From Sunrise to Sunset
by sakura doll
Summary: Completed! Princess Sakura Kinomoto, cursed to be a nightingale by day and human by night, travels to the Li kingdom to save her family. But falling in love with the prince just complicates everything. Full summary inside. plz R&R! SS!
1. Running away

**Author's note **This is my second CCS story. It's a little bit of drama, I know it's completely unlike me coz I'm not good at writing drama stuff and secondly I'm not very fond of drama myself (I know you think I'm weird, but it's kinda true) but I reeeeeally wanted to give it a shot and I promise to bring in lots of romance and humor in my further chapters.

PS  If this fic is similar to any other one then it is entirely coincidental. This idea is my own.

Full summary  The capital of the Kinomoto Kingdom is destroyed…young princess Sakura Kinomoto embarks on a journey to find the magical Valley of the Butterflies in the Li kingdom in order to save her family who were cursed by an evil witch. But the journey isn't easy being cursed herself, to be a nightingale by day and a human by night _and _falling in love with the mysterious handsome prince of the Li Kingdom just complicates everything.

Disclaimer; Can't you do it for me? I hate to say it

Anyways here's the first chapter….

**Chapter 1**

A sixteen year old auburn haired girl ran across the forest in the moonlight. The leaves slapped against her face the rocky path tearing her shoes. Her clothes were ragged, her emerald eyes filled with tears. Her breath was coming out in gasps but she continued to run clutching a small diary as though it was her life. Finally she reached a cliff, exhaustion took over her and she fell over the cliff down into the water as memories flooded through her

_Flashback_

"HIROSHI!" a voice echoed through the halls of the Kinomoto Kingdom palace. Young princess Sakura Kinomoto stopped to think the likeliest places where she could find her older brother. It then dawned on her. She snapped her fingers and ran up the stairs climbing two at a time. _The library!_ Hiroshi loved reading a book in the library.

She pushed open the tall doors of the library and forgetting to be quiet, yelled, "Hiroshi! Are you there?"

A tall young man with dark hair, sparkling blue eyes and wire rimmed glasses emerged from the book shelves,

"Shh! What's up little sis?" he asked playfully ruffling her auburn hair.

"Hurry!" she said impatiently yanking him by the arm. "Mother's just got a letter from dad. She wants us to come downstairs immediately,"

"Race you downstairs," he called already running ahead.

"Not fair," Sakura pouted and ran behind him.

Even though Sakura was sixteen and Hiroshi twenty, the two of them often forgot their ages and played like kids. Sakura was the youngest and only princess of the Kinomoto kingdom. Besides her, King Fujitaka and Queen Nadeshiko had another son, Touya Kinomoto. Hiroshi was Fujitaka's brother's son but his parents died when he was very young, so Fujitaka and Nadeshiko took him in and raised him like their own son. Hiroshi was a year younger than Touya and unlike him always defended for his little sister when she was being teased by him.

Sakura, being athletic could easily beat her brother but she bumped into the old maid Meeka on her way downstairs.

"Princess Sakura!" she gasped.

"Oops! Sorry" Sakura said sheepishly

"Why young lady! What are you doing running down the stairs. You are sixteen now, please try and behave like a lady," Meeka said. "Why, in my days, ladies your age…"

"…would have got married with their own families by now," Sakura finished quite used to this speech. "There's no time for that now,"

Meeka playfully slapped her but Sakura expertly dodged it and dashed downstairs, this time jumping three steps at time.

"I win" Hiroshi said triumphantly as Sakura entered the hall.

"That's coz I let you win," she replied crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"No you didn't. Admit it you're slow…"

"Look who's talking you…"

"Ah...ahem," a voice interrupted them from the doorway. Queen Nadeshiko entered the room, her ebony black hair cascaded down her shoulders, a twinkle in eyes.

"You two have to start acting your age,"

"So what has dad said?" Sakura asked eagerly.

Nadeshiko smiled at her enthusiastic daughter and said, "Good news. We've won the war. Your dad and Touya will be coming home next week,"

Sakura cheered and Hiroshi said, "Oh good, it's been a long time since they came home," Nadeshiko nodded and stated, "Well hurry and wash up. It's dinner time,"

The next week

The whole of the capital city of the Kinomoto kingdom was full of celebration due to the victory of the war and the return of their king. King Fujitaka was a kind person and was usually against wars but the situation in this particular case had gone a little too far, thereupon war had been the only way out.

"Wow! The city is so bright with all those lights and banners isn't it?" Sakura said her eyes wide in amazement as she looked out of the balcony.

"Yes," her mother replied, "Now go get dressed, your father will be arriving soon," Sakura sulked, "But mom, I hate frilly clothes,"

"Today, you have to bear with it," Her mother replied giving her a little shove.

"That's what you say all the time," she grumbled going towards her room.

Just as she left Hiroshi arrived smiling all over his face well dressed in his princely outfits.

"My, my you look handsome son. Now I know why all the girls keep drooling," his mother teased. Hiroshi flushed, 'Stop it mom, you're embarrassing me,"

Sakura appeared out of her room a little while later, "Mom, I can't get this sash done. Could you please give me a hand?"

Her mother went over to her, "You silly girl, the sash is torn. Now go get changed, wear that green dress you wore for the ball,"

"But I took nearly half an hour to put this dress on, now I have to change?" Sakura demanded furious.

"They're here!" Hiroshi called excitedly from the door way. Forgetting about her dress Sakura tore towards the door and flung herself on her father knocking the wind out of him, "You're finally back!"

"Sakura, allow me to breathe," her father gasped. "So how have you been?" her father asked.

"Well fine just as you see," his wife replied smiling. "How was your journey?"

"Great," came a reply before the King could answer. A young man a few inches taller than Hiroshi with dark hair and dark eyes entered smirking.

"Touya," Nadeshiko embraced her son.

Touya turned towards Sakura, "How have you been little monster?" he spotted her torn dress, "Are you that hungry that you ate your dress? The only monster that eats dresses,"

Sakura was about to retort angrily but as usual Hiroshi stepped in between, "Come on Touya. You've only just entered. Don't pick a fight already,"

"Protecting your baby sister as usual huh Hiro?" Touya asked pretending to be exasperated. "Of course," he smiled, "That's my job as a peacemaker isn't it?"

"Now, Sakura dear that dress…" her mother began.

Sakura sighed, "I know mom, and I'll get changed,"

"Now don't eat that dress as well, monster," Touya called mischievously after her.

"SHUT UP!"

Sakura dashed into her room and pulled out the dress that her mother had asked her to wear.

…..After 15 minutes

'_Finally' _she thought as she tied the sash, but as she was about to leave her room, she heard a huge explosion.

"What's going on?" Sakura yelled startled by the loud noise, she wasn't exactly fond of loud noises. Apparently no one heard her. Just before she could yell again, a shrieking voice came,

"How could you be celebrating!"

'_Definitely female' _she thought as she crept towards the stairs.

"But wait Miss Yuka…" she heard her father's voice.

"My son died in the war and you're celebrating!" came the voice again. Obviously the speaker wasn't going to be listening to anything. There was another explosion making Sakura jump out her wits. The entire castle shook and she could hear people screaming. She ran down the stairs to the hall where her family was. And to her horror there was a huge black cloud surrounding her parents and the once beautifully decorated hall was in a complete mess. Her father and both her brothers were unconscious but her mother seemed barely awake and her body was faintly glowing. Queen Nadeshiko was the one who had the strongest magical powers in the Kinomoto family.

"Mother!" she cried running and sitting towards her.

Sakura didn't notice the other woman in the room. The woman who was the cause of this entire was, fortunately for Sakura, now on her knees coughing out blood.

"Mother what happened?" she asked her mother tears flowing from her eyes.

Her mother opened her eyes and spoke, her voice barely a whisper, "Be strong, Sakura." and Sakura forcefully made an attempt to wipe her tears. "You're the only one who can save us. We've been cursed and the only way to break the curse is to go to the magical Valley of The Butterflies in the Li Kingdom. Here take this magic diary. It'll give you all the clues that you need," her mother gave her a small diary. Lost for words, Sakura nodded, silent tears flowing from her eyes.

"Now go!" her mother said her voice sounding weaker. "Go, before she sees you," Sakura got up and ran towards the door as her mother got enveloped by the cloud. But the witch saw her,

"Where do you think you're going?" she demanded teleporting in front of Sakura. She was wearing long robes that were covered in blood. She had long black hair which was in high ponytail except for a few strands and her eyes were narrow and piercing.

"This may be the last spell that I cast, but I don't care. I'm going to make you all pay for the misery you've caused." She yelled sending a wave of energy towards Sakura who dodged it and jumped out of the window onto the garden, gasping for breath.

Sakura stopped to catch her breath only for a second and then sprinted towards the forest leading to the Li kingdom. She heard the witch screaming something and she felt something hot run through her body and knew that the witch had put a spell on her as well, but it probably wasn't a powerful one because Yuka had lost most of her powers.

Before she entered the forest, she decided to look at the city once, so she went the special place where she and Hiroshi spent most of their time as it provided a bird's eye view of the entire city and was really a beautiful sight. But shockingly, the usually cheerful city was completely ruined. The entire city was burning and dead bodies were scattered everywhere. There was nothing but blood, terror and confusion all around. Sakura dropped to her knees and sobbed, her tears fell down on the sand.

Tears of sorrow, anguish and pain….

End of flashback

_Splash!_

Sakura landed in the water. And finally she managed to scramble out of the water and lay down on the grass in the riverbank panting due to exhaustion. She tried to get up but instead fell back into a dead faint due to her pain and weariness.

The sun rose from behind the mountains casting its light over the glimmering water, the trees on its bank and…

….a little nightingale

**Author's note: ** Well that's the end of the first chapter. Sorry if it's short and a little angsty, but I wanted to bring in more emotion in my story. Don't worry; it'll be better from the next chapter. It's my first time writing emotional stuff, so bear with me. Good news ppl, Syaoran is coming in the next chapter (cheers). Please tell me what you think in your reviews. So R&R ppl!

Coming up in the next chapter 

"We've got something for you your majesty,"

The prince strolled over majestically and looked, "Where did you get that nightingale?"

Stay tuned!


	2. Meeting the amber eyed prince

**Author's note: **Here's the second chapter. I'm sorry for the delay. I got caught up with school work. Any ways thanks to all those who reviewed

_halliwells—_ Thanks Enjoy this chapter!

_arokat—_ Glad you like it! Syaoran's making his appearance in this chappie! (Cheers again)

_ldyxcuti3—_ I updated as quickly as I could! Read and enjoy!

_nosie—_Whether Sakura has magical powers or not will be revealed soon (maybe in the next chapter) Yuka's background is a sort of a part of climax.

_Dbzgtfan2004— _Thank you for your support!

_Psycho-pyro-shrink— _Do you really think my story's that cool? (blushes) Thanks!

_Diana— _Thanks a bunch for your review! Enjoy this chapter!

_Valentine Satiguss— _Thanks for staying tuned! Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it. Of course the show will go on!

**Chapter 2:**

Sunlight dawned on her Sakura woke up and looked at her reflection and knew that the witch's curse had effected. Thoughts of her past filled her mind and she felt as though her heart would burst, she wished that her brothers were there to comfort her.

'No' she thought bravely, 'I have to save my family, they're depending on me. I mustn't be weak.'

She glanced at the diary beside her, which now looked twice its original size. Sighing she decided to lift it. After a lot of struggle when she finally did, she heard footsteps and quickly slid it down a hole in a tree.

Two men appeared from the bushes. From what they were wearing, they were probably guards of the palace of the Li kingdom.

"Hey look a nightingale!" one of them exclaimed catching sight of Sakura, much to her dismay.

"Get her! We'll take her to the prince."

The first man grabbed at her and Sakura, who was not used to flying, was easily caught. She tweeted in shock as the man grasped her tightly.

'_Oh, why had the witch cursed me to be a nightingale and not, something ordinary like a sparrow? Then I wouldn't be in this mess…"_

She struggled and squeaked loudly, but it was no use and Sakura knew it was hopeless, what if they put her in a cage? Then she'd never be able to save her family. But she tried to keep her hopes up by telling herself that she'd be able to escape though there was very little chance to that. She finally gave up struggling because the more she struggled the more tightly he held on to her.

………….After a while

"We're here," the man who held her announced.

Sakura stared at the place they'd arrived. It was a huge palace and she couldn't help but admire the artwork. The halls were enormous and decorated with finest ornaments.

'Just like my home' she thought with a pang in her heart. The two men entered a room, where a young man, about her age stood by the window. He had messy chestnut hair with bangs that fell over his eyes— glamorous yet emotionless amber eyes. Sakura gaped at him, sure she had heard rumors about how good he looked, but this beat them all. The frozen look in his eyes however scared her. She was sure that he'd lock her up in a cage and forget about feeding her.

"We have something for you, Your Majesty," said one man kneeling down in front of him. The prince turned around and looked at her,

"Where did you get that bird?" he demanded his voice cold and hard that sent shivers down Sakura's spine.

"In the forest Prince Li,"

"If you don't want it…." Sakura's heart leapt at this but

"No, give it to me," The prince strode majestically and gently got her from the man's grasp, much to Sakura's amazement. She lay still on his hands and reluctantly let herself sleep in his warm hands.

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Prince Syaoran stared at the little bird in his hand. 'The poor thing looks starved and half choked to death. That idiot of a man doesn't even know how to handle a bird.' He thought. He took her to his room and placed her in a cage.

Sakura woke up two hours later finding herself locked up in a cage. Panic filled her as she wondered how she would escape. She drank some water to calm herself. She was hungry but there were only a few seeds in a small bowl. She groaned inwardly. 'Oh yeah… I'm just a bird' she thought sarcastically 'Great how am I going to live on this food?' but she was too hungry to give it much thought, so she helped herself with some seeds anyways.

'They're much better than I expected,' she thought 'Maybe because I'm that hungry,' After eating her fill Sakura resumed her attempts to open the cage.

A couple of hours flew by and all her efforts in vain. What frightened her most was that the sun would go down soon and she couldn't change into a girl inside the cage. However hard she tried she just couldn't reach the latch at all. But she refused to give up until suddenly, the door of the room opened and the prince came in. He was surprised to see her sticking her beak outside the cage.

"Do you want to leave?" Prince Syaoran asked her. She simply stared at him. He opened the door of the cage and put his finger in. Hesitantly she hopped on to it and he pulled her out. She was taken aback. What happened to the cold prince she'd met earlier? He stroked the feathers on her head with his other hand and said,

"I understand how it feels to be stuck in a cage. So I'll keep the latch open and you can fly in and out whenever you want,"

Sakura was grateful to him. She hopped on the window sill and tweeted loudly meaning to say thank you. With a little trouble Sakura flew out of the window and as soon as she flew over the castle wall the sun went completely behind the horizon causing her to transform into a girl. She landed softly on the grass and muttered to herself, "All right Sakura, now to retrieve mom's diary," And with that she ran into the forest near the palace.

…………. (Time gap)

"I've been running around in circles," she wailed slumping on her knees as she crossed the familiar tree for the seventh time. (A/N: Imagine that!)

"Wait! I've got it!" she snapped her fingers, an idea popping in her head. She dug into her pocket and found a bit of charcoal in her pocket. She decided to mark the trees as she went so as to be able to find her way back.

It was almost midnight when she reached the river.

"Made it!" she gasped. It didn't take her long to find the tree where she'd hidden her mother's diary. As she walked towards the tree,

"Well what do we have here?"

Sakura spun around and saw the source of the cold voice. Three men were walking towards and she didn't like the smirk on their faces. They looked about few years older than her.

"You're pretty cute aren't you?" said one of the men leaning close to her. His breath stunk of alcohol and she turned her face in disgust.

"Go away," she said, wishing she felt as brave as she sounded.

But the man ignored her, grasping her hands with one of his and the other reaching towards her cheek.

"I said get away!" she yelled swinging her left knee and hitting him hard on the stomach. He let go of her and staggered a little. Grabbing this opportunity Sakura punched him in the face with her fist. He fell back backwards due to the impact and Sakura turned at once to escape. His cronies who were apparently useless didn't make an attempt to stop her, but unfortunately something else did. Her foot got stuck in a root of a tree and down she fell.

"You insolent little rat! You'll pay for that!" the man yelled brandishing a knife. He raised it high… Sakura closed her eyes waiting for the pain, but nothing happened instead she heard the sound of clashing metal which made her open eyes. To her surprise there was a cloaked young man standing between her and the dagger. The young man was holding a rusted iron rod which he probably picked off the ground. He skillfully twisted the rod sending the dagger flying from his hand. The other three men seemed just as surprised as she was.

"She told you to get away. I see you didn't get the message," said the stranger in a low, menacing voice.

"You'd better get away if you want your life boy" growled the leader.

"We'll just see about that" retorted the boy with a trace of amusement in his voice. With a few swift moves he easily dealt with the rogues who fled yelling curses over their shoulder. The young man turned around and stretched his hand to help Sakura up.

"Are you alright, miss?" he asked kindly.

Sakura nodded getting up and trying to look at his face which was covered by the hood. Just then the hood fell over his face and moonlight lit his face up. Sakura gaped at the pair of familiar amber eyes.

"Your majesty!" she yelped, the prince looked different his eyes weren't cold and distant; they were warm and surprisingly full of emotion. She glanced at his hand,

"You're hurt"

Prince Syaoran wondered how this girl knew who he was because he knew he hadn't met her before. He looked down at his hand and shrugged

"Just a little scratch"

But the girl had already pulled off his glove and pushed back his sleeve

"A scratch, my foot, you're hand is soaking in blood" she said peering at it closely,

"It's a wound from the dagger I think there was a little bit of poison" she announced, "Hold still" she commanded and pressed her lips against the wound in his right wrist.

"Wha…what are you doing?" Syaoran stammered, feeling color rise up to his cheeks as he felt her lips against his hand, her auburn hair brushing his palms.

"Removing the poison," she replied continuing what she sucking his blood and then spitting it out. After she seemed satisfied she wiped her lips against her sleeve

"I think that should do it. I think it's poison from a snake, those men night have killed one with their dagger, but I'm not sure. But it's better to be safe than sorry," she said cheerfully and then tore the ends of her skirt neatly into two strips and tied it one above and the other below his wound so firmly that it stopped his blood circulation.

"That would prevent the poison from spreading," she added. "But just in case…" she stopped and looked around, "Wait here a sec…" she ran to a nearby bush and plucked some of the leaves

. "Here grind these into a paste and apply them on your hand when you get back. That'll surely take care of the poison if there was any," she said giving it to him. Syaoran just nodded dumbly. And with that she strode past him to a tree and pulled out what looked like a diary from a hole.

She bowed to him and said, "Thank you for saving me Your Majesty. Please take care of yourself." Before he could open his mouth she turned and ran away.

"Wait!" Syaoran called, "You didn't tell me your name…" he sighed and walked back to his horse.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura heard the prince call her but she ran away pretending to ignore him. She had to make as less contact with people as possible. Finally after she knew he wasn't following her she leaned against a tree panting.

'No one must know about your curse' her mother's voice echoed in her head. (A/N: I forgot to mention it in the previous chapter. Sorry! )

Sakura looked up and was surprised to find herself near the Li Kingdom castle wall. Maybe her 'animal instincts' was rubbing off on her. She found a tiny cave near the mountains behind the castle. (A/N: I hope you can picture the surrounding of the Li castle. On the east side of the castle wall there is a forest and some mountains, okay? I know that I'm bad at descriptions.)

The cave was fortunately quite warm so Sakura made herself comfy by curling up on the soft sand in the corner and it wasn't too cold so she didn't need a blanket. At first she missed her soft bed at home but due to her weariness she fell asleep faster than she expected.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Unlike Sakura, Prince Syaoran was finding it very hard to sleep. His mind kept flickering towards the beautiful maiden he'd saved.

'Her voice was so cheerful yet her eyes… why were they so full of sorrow?" Syaoran wondered before drifting to a peaceful sleep.

**Author's note ** That's the end of chapter two! Hope you like it. Tell me in your reviews and before I leave here's a preview of the next chapter.

Next time on From Sunrise to Sunset ** The secret garden**

"So we meet again,"

"What…what are you doing here?"

Stay tuned!

Oh and don't forget to R&R ppl!

Signing off

sakura doll


	3. The secret garden

**Author's note: ** Hello! I was really happy to get so many reviews! Yay! I hope I did not delay this chapter too much I was concentrating on What my Heart wants for a while (Chapter 7 is up). Thanks to all my reviewers,

**ffgirl-07, halliwells, psycho-pyro-shrink, cheerysakura88, Valentine Satiquss, backfire16891, darkazureblossom, horsegirl, nosie, Falling Tenshi, krn5rul3, tEarS11, MizEvilBlossoms **(I'm really glad that you think I that good, I hope you enjoy the rest of my story) **and Shadowkeeper13 **(Thank you so much for reading this story also)!

Well, my devoted readers; here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

**Chapter 3 The secret garden **

Next morning, Syaoran awoke only to hear the nightingale twittering loudly as though wishing him good morning. He sat up and rubbed his eyes,

"You're back!" he said spotting her. He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and he noticed the wound in his hand. He recalled the events of the previous night wondering if he'd ever see that girl again. He grinded the leaves to a paste and applied it on his hand just like the girl had instructed and then bandaged it up again. He then came out of the bathroom dressed in his princely outfit, making sure the sleeve of his shirt covered the wound. He walked up to the cage and opened it.

"Breakfast time," he said beckoning her to come out. He let her hop on his shoulder and left to the dining room. As he walked through the huge hallway, four girls suddenly burst of an adjoining room, all of them having similar brown eyes and light brown hair of varying length. They were Sheifa, Fuutie, Feimei and Fanran, the four Li sisters.

"Good morning little bro," they chorused.

"Good morning," Syaoran replied a little huffily.

"Oh, what a cute bird!" Fuutie exclaimed spotting Sakura on his shoulder.

"Is that a new pet?" Feimei asked.

"Wow! A nightingale," Fanran cried.

"Let's take a look at it," Sheifa added.

Sakura was stunned at this sudden burst of noises and suddenly felt herself being yanked off Syaoran's shoulder. She squealed as the four sisters tried touching, stroking, fondling and poking her at the same time. She tried to fly out but for one thing she wasn't very good at it and secondly flying out of a mass of eight hands made things more difficult. She chirped loudly trying to tell the girls that she was in pain, but they didn't seem to hear with the noises they were making themselves. Finally after Sakura was sure that all her feathers had been nearly pulled out another pair of warm hands grabbed her.

"Leave her alone! She's my pet," And with that he stormed out to the dining room.

"Aw…little Syao's being possessive" Feimei called after him teasingly.

Once they were out of sight from his sisters. Syaoran whispered, "Sorry about that. My sisters are a little weird," He shook his head and then said,

"What am I telling that to you for? You wouldn't understand, you're just a bird,"

Little did he know that the bird did understand. Sakura couldn't help agreeing though she felt that _a little _was an understatement. She suddenly realized that he was hugging her tightly.

'What's wrong with me?' she wondered trying to suppress a tingly feeling in her heart. But she had no time to think as Syaoran placed her on his shoulder as they entered the dining room.

"Good morning father, mother," Syaoran greeted as he sat down. King Li Ryu and Queen Li Yelan looked up and nodded in acknowledgement as he wished them. King Ryu had chestnut hair like Syaoran but not quite so messy and dark eyes and Queen Yelan had long black hair held in a ponytail and amber eyes.

"Syaoran" began his mother giving him an all too familiar glare. And Syaoran knew at once what his mother was going to say.

"You will be turning seventeen in two months and you still haven't got married,"

Syaoran sighed. _This again. _He was about to protest when his father said,

"Dear, why don't you give him some time? He's just a young boy."

"But I've given him six months and he still hasn't found a suitable bride…"

The door suddenly opened and the four sisters stepped. Their mother clicked her tongue impatiently,

"You're late,"

"Sorry," Fuutie apologized as the girls sat down. Syaoran was glad at this interruption but unfortunately it took more than that to make his mother forget.

She looked at him and said, "Now what was I saying…Ah yes, when will you find yourself a bride. You've turned down five proposals this week. Listen Syaoran I don't want to force you into this, but the law says…"

"I know I know mother the law says that I should get married within a week after my seventeenth birthday," Syaoran said with a heavy sigh.

"Well if you know it then you must act more responsibly,"

The Li sisters glanced at one another; they knew that Syaoran didn't like talking about this.

"Um… mother uh…well Syaoran's got a new pet," Fanran said suddenly unable to think of any other topic. But fortunately his mother changed the subject

"He has?"

Syaoran didn't want to talk about this either but it was better than the previous topic.

"Is it true Syaoran?" his mother asked him.

"Yes it is," Sheifa said before he could open his mouth, "It's a nightingale too, can we ask it to sing a song? I've always wanted to hear nightingale's song,"

"That's a good idea," said the King, "Music always makes you feel better," And his mother nodded in agreement. Syaoran glanced uneasily at his new pet.

Sakura, at that moment was feeling uncomfortable because she was hearing personal matter of the Li family which she wasn't supposed to do. Suddenly she felt a pair of amber eyes staring at her.

"Can you do it?" Syaoran said to her in a low voice.

Sakura stared at him bewildered. '_What is he talking about? Oh no! Have they found out who I am? What do I…? _

"Please sing a song," Syaoran said again. Sakura felt relieved, _of course I'm a nightingale that's why they want me to…what? Ok. Now I'm beginning to think the first option was better. _Sure Sakura had had music lessons with her mother before but you couldn't exactly give her an A+ for her music skills.

_I'm a nightingale and nightingales are supposed to sing well, right? _Sakura thought as she perched herself on the fruit basket. _Looks like I don't have a choice _she thought and she opened her beak and began singing. It was a song that her mother taught her and it was the only one she knew. (A/N: She can't say the words of the song being a nightingale so she is just humming the tune, get it?) It brought back a lot of memories…. How she and her mother used to sit in the garden practicing the song…how Touya would tease her voice saying that it was like a donkey's bray…how Hiroshi was always there to defend her and how her father would watch this amusing show from the sidelines. Those were sweet memories…

The song finally ended. It wasn't very long and as she was a nightingale, the song turned much better than she'd expected. But the Li family was quite impressed, they stared at her in awe even all the maids and the butler who had listened to her sing were stunned. Sakura began feeling embarrassed. The song came out well but she knew that she wasn't all that good. She felt uncomfortable under their stares so she flew back to Syaoran's shoulder, and buried her head in her wing.

Syaoran was surprised. What's wrong with the bird? He wondered feeling her feathers against his skin. His sisters snickered,

"I think she's embarrassed," Feimei said with a giggle.

"That was a refreshing song," her mother said with a smile ignoring her daughters. "Now let's start our breakfast before it turns cold,"

Syaoran nodded and handed a strawberry from the fruit bowl to his pet. Sakura was glad to see a strawberry, forgetting about her embarrassment took it with her claw and dug her beak into the fleshy fruit. This is much better than those dry seeds she thought happily.

After breakfast Sakura decided go to the garden, as she loved nature and she wanted to practice flying. If she was going to be bird then she had to _learn how to fly. _

The garden was enormous and extremely neat, with not a weed or grass that wasn't trimmed. There were a whole lot of flowers of all colors, and even a pond.

But what caught Sakura was one corner of the garden which seemed much different than the rest of the place. Sakura felt herself drawn towards that mysterious place. She could sense something strange as she entered this place. It was also a part of the garden except that it was completely different because there were weeds all over the place and grass was nearly a foot tall but according to Sakura, the best part was the numerous cherry blossom trees with their bright pink flowers which was surprising as it was autumn and every one knew cherry blossom trees grew only in spring. She wondered if this was a magical garden…maybe just maybe this was the mystic valley of butterflies. Sakura couldn't contain her excitement at that thought, she hopped around in joy. But suddenly she realized that there were no butterflies at all. _If this was the valley of butterflies then where were the butterflies?_

Sakura sighed, her joy draining out of her as quickly as it had come. She flew back to the palace and she spent the rest of the day wondering how she was going to find the mystic valley as she knew nothing about it except its name.

That evening when the sun went down Sakura snuck back to the secret garden that she'd discovered. She simply loved that place. She sat on a log, humming a tune as stared at the wide starry sky. She was so absorbed in her song that she didn't notice someone come behind her.

"So we meet again," _That voice, that familiar voice……_

Sakura whirled around and saw a familiar pair of amber eyes staring at her.

"What…what are you doing here?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Syaoran chuckled at the girl's shock. She quickly jumped up from the log she was sitting and bowed down.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't ask you that Your Majesty, this is your garden. You can come here whenever you want."

He stared at her and said, "Please don't bow, you're making me feel uncomfortable,"

She lifted her head and looked at him shyly. He smiled at her. _Those beautiful emerald eyes…_

He sat down on the grass motioning her to sit beside him.

"Thanks again for saving me yesterday, Your Majesty," Sakura said looking at the ground.

"You saved me too," he said showing her his hand which was slowly healing, "So we're even,"

"I guess," she mumbled

"I've never seen you around before. Are you new here?"

Sakura nodded.

"What's your name?"

"Sakura K…" she stopped. He looked at her as though waiting to hear her last name. But when she didn't he decided not to poke his nose. If she didn't want to tell him, he wouldn't force her to do so.

"Are you from the Kinomoto kingdom?" Sakura froze at this question. It was not like the Li and Kinomoto Kingdom were enemies, but there was a tension between them that was so thick you could cut it with a butcher's knife. It was sort of a cold war. Scared but not wanting to lie she silently nodded her head waiting with bated breath for his reaction.

"Don't worry," he said sensing her fear, "I'm not going to kill you or something," he said much to her relief. "I think war is pointless."

There was a moment's silence.

"This place is beautiful isn't?" Syaoran asked trying to start a new conversation.

"Yeah," Sakura agreed, "I love the cherry blossoms,"

"Sakura means cherry blossom doesn't it?"

"They were my mother's favorite flowers," she said smiling slightly

_Flashback_

"_Monster, monster" yelled a ten year old Touya running in the garden chased by a four year old Sakura._

"_I'm not a monster, big brother" she shouted at him and ran up to Hiroshi, "He's calling me a monster, Hiro" she cried, her big emerald eyes full of tears._

"_Touya stop it" Hiroshi said kneeling down in front of Sakura to comfort her._

"_Am I as ugly as a monster?" she asked._

"_No of course not, you're as pretty as a cherry blossom"_

"_Cherry blossom?"_

"_That's what your name means. Sakura means cherry blossoms. They are mom's favorite flowers"_

"_Mama likes me so she named me Cherry blossom?"_

_Hiroshi nodded smiling at his sister; Sakura stuck her tongue out at Touya,_

"_I'm a cherry blossom, not a monster"_

"_Cherry blossom or not, you'll always be a monster"_

_End of flashback_

"Sakura?" a voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Huh?... Oh sorry Your Majesty. I guess I spaced out a bit," Sakura mumbled blushing a little.

"You don't have call me your majesty every time, I have a name you know, so call me Syaoran"

"Alright, your—I mean Syao—Syaoran" she stammered.

Syaoran laughed at the way she fumbled to say his name,

"Is my name that hard to pronounce?"

"No, no…" she said surprised to hear him laugh. "I hope you don't mind me asking but why are so cold sometimes?" she asked hesitantly.

Syaoran grinned sheepishly and replied, "This might sound a little dumb…but for the past one year my mother has been pestering me to get married. It's not that I don't want get married, I just want to wait for the right person, if you can understand what I mean." Sakura nodded, a little puzzled wondering why he must get married so soon. Why, her brothers were way older than him and her parents and never tried forcing them to get married.

"And all the princesses who have come recently just want to marry me for my money and looks. I don't want a wife who is snobby or conceited, I want to marry someone I like, I really like," he said softly. "That's why I put on a cold exterior that drives people away," he added smiling.

"It isn't a dumb reason. I'd do the same thing if I were in your position," Sakura said earnestly, "It's amazing how different you are now. It's like there are two people in the same body,"

Syaoran stared at her amused. "I guess that sounded dumb huh?" she asked looking a little embarrassed.

"No it sounded just perfect especially coming from an innocent person like you," he said. A little shade of pink appeared on her cheek which was replaced by a perplexed look, "Was that a compliment?"

Syaoran laughed again, "Think of it whatever you like," There was another moment of silence. "So tell me how did you find this place?"

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind what I asked. It's just not many people come to this place,"

"Why not?"

"My mother told me that when my ancestors built this place, they built this secret garden but only a few people can see it, the garden almost seems to be invisible to some people. I don't know why,"

"That's amazing!"

"Yeah so do have any magical powers?"

"I'm not sure. My mom said that every one has magical powers. But our magical powers are influenced by our emotions. When we experience strong emotions, good or bad we can draw our magical powers."

"What use are these magical powers?"

"Depends on what we want. Positive emotions like friendship or love create constructive powers. For instance if someone very close to you is going to die or something and if you really care about this person then you can use your powers to save them. And negative emotions like jealousy and hatred create destructive powers. Some times these powers can even destroy an entire city," Sakura sighed wondering if this was the reason her home town was destroyed. Again his voice interrupted her thoughts.

"That sounds interesting, mysterious rather. Kind of like the mystic valley of the butterflies," Syaoran said thoughtfully. Sakura jumped on hearing that name, "You know something about the mystic valley?"

"Well…" Syaoran began.

**Author's note:** That's it for now. I hope this chapter is long enough for you. Sorry for the delay. I got caught up with my practical exams. I'll try my best to post the next chapter ASAP. And don't forget to drop a review!

Signing off,

sakura doll.


	4. The mystic valley

**Author's note; **Sorry for the delay! I was really busy this week. Here's the next chapter by the way….And a big thanks to all those who reviewed!

**Chapter 4**

"Well you see…" began Syaoran, "I don't know much about the mystic valley, but I'll tell you all what I know,"

Sakura nodded eagerly.

"You see most of our country is surrounded by forests and mountains. At the north eastern side people believed that there was a special place called mystical valley of butterflies, there were lot of legends and myths based on the mystic valley but none of them were proved as no one has seen this mysterious place. People used to tell a lot of tales about the valley. But the most common tale that was told had something to do with the Kinomoto kingdom; I don't know much about it. After many attempts the people finally accepted that it was only a myth, even though one of my ancestors have gone there or so he claims" Syaoran shrugged.

"The Kinomoto kingdom?" Sakura asked shocked.

"Yes. I'm not sure of the reason. It is believed that a witch cursed them to become flowers in the mystic valley of butterflies,"

"O-okay," said Sakura sounding puzzled, "This is weird, why flowers? And if it is the mystic valley of butterflies shouldn't they have been cursed to be butterflies?" she wondered out loud.

Syaoran laughed making Sakura look at him, "What's so funny?" she demanded pouting.

"Boy, you have no clue do you? Even most of the villagers here know a little bit about mystic valley. But then again you're from the Kinomoto kingdom, you wouldn't know much,"

Sakura stopped pouting and stated, "You haven't answered my question,"

"You look really cute when you were pouting," Syaoran said without thinking causing both of them to blush immediately. There was an awkward silence the Syaoran cleared his throat loudly and said, "The mystic valley of butterflies isn't called so because of the butterflies. It's because of all the flowers there. It is believed that the mystic valley houses every flower there is in the world."

"That's cool," Sakura exclaimed, "But why name it the mystic valley of butterflies? That's like naming your gold fish blackie," she said reasonably.

Syaoran laughed at her silly comment, "Don't ask me I didn't name it."

"But no one has been there before then how do you know all this?"

"I told you one of my ancestors claimed that he has seen it, didn't I? He wrote a book about it. Why don't you come here tomorrow morning? And I'll give it to you, if you're interested that is."

"Sure" Sakura said happily then stopped, "Wait I can't come tomorrow morning," she suddenly said.

"Why not?" he asked puzzled. Sakura stared at his perplexed amber pools, her thoughts racing. '_What do I tell him? I can't come tomorrow morning I'll be a nightingale' _

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen you around in the daytime…"

"Uh…uh well I came here on a mission." she said lamely, "its family stuff. That's what I do in the day. I have to complete this special mission and make my family proud," she said. But in her mind was '_Great idea girl, I'll bet he doesn't believe a word you said. Can't you think of a better excuse!' _

"That's brave of you," he said simply, "Is it got anything to do with mystic valley?"

"No, no, I was just interested to know about the mystic valley. I've always been fascinated about magical places," she said shaking her head vigorously while her mind jumped with joy.

_He believed you! He believed you!_

"Well I'll be seeing you tomorrow night then?" he said getting up to leave.

Sakura stood up looking at the ground, "I'm sorry," she blurted, "but that's all I can tell you Your Majesty,"

"Don't worry," he said gently. "You can tell me anything you want, when you're ready," She stared at him, her emerald eyes full of gratitude, "Thank you, thank you so much Your Majesty," she said turning around and running away.

'_What did he mean? Did he see through me?' _ Sakura thought with tears in her eyes, _'He's so kind to me, yet I lied to him. I feel like I betrayed his trust. I'm so sorry Syaoran!' _Sakura was now crying. She flung herself on the sand in her cave and cried herself to sleep.

Syaoran stared as she ran away. _'Was she crying? I hope I didn't say the wrong thing. It's obvious she's hiding something. But she can tell me when she wants to…'_ Syaoran sighed and went to his room. He quickly changed and fell asleep quickly not noticing the empty bird cage…

Next day

In the library

Syaoran was scanning the huge library in search of the book he'd promised Sakura. He'd already spent three hours in the library, his search was futile so far, but he refused to give up. Sakura, who was on his shoulder as usual, (for he wouldn't go anywhere without his precious pet) wished he would take some rest. She felt really happy that he cared for her so much, but at the same time felt guilty for making him waste his time and energy for her.

"Are you looking for something, Your Highness?" said the librarian who had just entered the library himself.

"Yes, it's the book about the mystic valley,"

"Oh, I know where that is." He replied leading Syaoran into a dusty shelf near the window. He picked out an old, thin, nameless book with yellowed pages that resembled her mother's diary.

Sakura's heart pounded with excitement as she saw Syaoran flip through the pages. Unfortunately he turned the pages quickly, his eyes scanning through to check if he had the right one and Sakura couldn't read a word. She hoped it would be useful because her mother's diary hadn't been useful at all. In fact there were no words written in it at all. Sakura knew that it was a magic diary and according to what her mother had said words would appear only when it was needed. So she supposed that her mother had expected her to find the mystic valley on her own.

"I'll borrow this for a while," Syaoran told the librarian.

"Of course, you may Your Majesty. This library belongs to you, after all," he beamed at the prince.

Syaoran smirked and as he left the library he called cheekily over his shoulder,

"You're late by half an hour today Mr. Kazuki. I trust you won't repeat it again tomorrow because you're job is at stake."

The librarian gulped, "V—very well, Your Highness,"

Syaoran flopped on his bed and sighed, "Well I got the book she wanted. I wish I knew why she's always so sad…" he muttered. Sakura squeaked on hearing his words '_Did he really say that?' _ He reached over to her suddenly and stroked the feathers on her head, "Would you like to go out for a little while?" Sakura nodded lightly feeling sure that he could see her blush.

She quickly flew out of the window, stumbling as she did because for a strange reason, she felt dizzy and her heart was beating twice its normal rate.

She flew out into the town which was full of the usual hustle and bustle, people busy with work and children playing in the garden. '_This seems like a peaceful place' _Sakura thought _'unlike all the rumors I heard' _she thought about how the people at home used to say horrid things about the Li kingdom. But everyone seemed friendly and happy here. Sakura perched herself on top of a wire and saw two women chatting as they washed the clothes.

"Have you heard the latest news?" one of the asked

"No, why is something wrong?" replied the other.

"It seems that the capital of the Kinomoto Kingdom was destroyed,"

Sakura felt her heart pang as she heard that.

"Really?"

"Yes it doesn't seem like the work of an enemy. According to the rumors it was destroyed by a powerful curse it something."

"What happened to the royal family?"

"Many bodies were found but it seems no one knows what had happened it in the castle. The mysterious part is that the bodies of the royal family were never found."

Sakura never knew what the other woman replied because she flew away from there, her eyes brimming with tears at the thought of her family and home. She flew back to the palace and just as she entered Syaoran's room he spotted her and asked, "Back so soon?" he asked her placing her on his shoulder as he headed for lunch. Unfortunately for Sakura, even at the dining table the Li family discussed about the disaster in the Kinomoto Kingdom.

"That's sad," Feimei commented once she'd heard the tragedy that Fuutie had narrated. She'd apparently heard about it from the maid, "I hope that everyone is alright,"

"Anyway I heard that the Kinomoto princess is really cute," Fanran said.

"Yeah and very gentle too, maybe you could bring her as our sister-in-law, little bro…" Sheifa added with a giggle.

Syaoran flushed a bright red and stuttered, "Wha…?"

Little did they know that a certain nightingale on his shoulder was blushing too.

Syaoran was about to say something, but subsided as his father glared at him,

"That will never happen," he said a little curtly.

"Now, don't get so worked up dear," said his wife soothingly.

"Why do you always act so weird every time the Kinomoto kingdom is mentioned?" Syaoran asked his father angrily. "That feud happened ages ago and you still bear a grudge against them?"

"Syaoran!" his mother's voice rang out, "Apologize at once,"

Syaoran glared at his mother and mumbled, "I'm sorry father," and got up from the table, "Excuse me mother," he said and left before telling his father, "If you think about it father, you'll see I'm right," and he walked out the door.

Sakura wondered why Syaoran was so mad. She chirruped softly in his ear making him look at her.

"Sorry you shouldn't have seen that," he murmured apologetically. He sighed and sat down in the steps leading to the garden. _'Why did I yell at him like that? Of course I don't like the fact that he bears a grudge against the Kinomoto Kingdom, but still I've never flared up at him before…'_

(Time gap)

At midnight

Syaoran quietly snuck out of the castle clutching the book in his hand. He soon reached the secret garden and found Sakura in the exact same spot they had met the previous night. She was standing under a cherry blossom tree drumming her fingers lightly against the tree while singing to herself

"Don't give up on your faith

Love comes to those who believe it

And…."

"And?" came a voice behind her.

"Your Majesty," she gasped turning around.

"And…what?" he asked again.

She gave him a puzzled look and then as though realizing what he said she sang the last line of the song she had been singing, "And that's the way it is,"

"Is that all?" he asked as she finished.

She nodded silently, "You have a beautiful voice, you should sing to me someday," he mumbled.

Sakura blushed, "Thank you, your majesty. But I'm not all that good,"

"Here's the book you asked for," he said suddenly remembering it.

Sakura took it with trembling hands and hugged it tightly, "Thanks again Your Majesty," (A/N; she sure is thanking him a lot isn't she, oh well…)

Syaoran raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms in front of his chest, "You're not welcome," he said hotly.

"Huh?" she looked at him surprised, "Why not?"

"Didn't I tell you to call me Syaoran?" he demanded.

"Uh…sorry. Ok then, thank you Syaoran," she said stressing on his name.

"That's better. This time you are welcome," Both of them stared at each other and then burst out laughing. Once the laughter had abated the two of them blushed and stared at the ground.

"Um…shall we sit down?" she asked almost timidly.

"Sure and we'd better keep our voices down. We don't want to wake the household now do we?" he said sitting on the grass.

"Sakura, you're from the Kinomoto kingdom right?"

"Um… yeah"

"So do you know what happened to the royal family?" he asked hesitantly.

Sakura froze, she knew that she shouldn't talk about it so she quickly racked her brain for a good excuse, "Well, I wasn't there when the disaster happened" she said finally.

"Where were you?"

"My brother and I had gone to the mountains for some…um… training" she lied, telling the first thing that came to her head.

"Oh" Syaoran looked up at the sky.

She had a feeling he knew that she was lying and she felt really bad, "I'm sorry" she said accidentally.

"Sorry for what?"

"For not being able to tell you anymore"

"It's okay. I'm the one who should say sorry"

"Why?"

"Because I shouldn't have brought up that topic, it must have been painful."

Sakura suddenly felt tears come to her eyes; she tried to blink them back before he saw but he noticed it at once.

"Don't cry," he said gently placing his hand on her shoulder.

Then she suddenly remembered that she had to find the mystic valley and she did not have much time before she transforms back to a bird. She jumped up abruptly and said,

"I really have to go, Syaoran. There's something I have to do."

"Ok. It's high time I went to bed anyway," he yawned "Remember Sakura, if there's something troubling you, you can always talk to me about it, ok? I'm all ears" With that he strode off back to the castle.

Sakura stared at up, lost for words. On a sudden impulse she called him; "Syaoran!" he turned around, "Thank you…so much" and she turned around and ran swiftly into the darkness of the forest.

Syaoran stared at her as she ran.

_It was her…did I yell at my father because of her?_

Once out of the castle Sakura decided to read the book. She opened it but clumsily dropped it down. It being an old book the cover tore of revealing a small piece of paper. Curiously she picked it up. It was a hastily scribbled map directing towards the north eastern forests.

_The forest that Syaoran was talking about. _She thought excitedly. It didn't take her long to find the forests. Just outside the forest on the right side of the narrow path was a small cave and according to the map she was supposed to go through it to the mystic valley. Gulping down her fear Sakura took a lantern off a nearby post which she presumed was for travelers who traveled during the nights. She entered the cave, the lantern lighting the path ahead. She walked slowly but steadily, jumping every time a cricket chirped or an owl hooted. It was quite a long walk or so it seemed due to her slow pace. Many a times her fear took over her and she had wanted to run out and away from this creepy place. But she constantly reminded herself the reason of her quest, her family depends on her and she had to do everything possible to save them.

Finally after ten minutes of walking she reached a dead end. Sakura stared at the huge wall blocking her path. _What now? _ She thought. She quickly scanned the piece of paper in the dim light of the lantern wondering if she'd made a mistake. But she couldn't find any. Just as she was about to give up, her sharp emerald eyes spied writing at the back of the paper. She quickly flipped it over holding the lantern close to the paper. Something had been written but it was so tiny that it was almost unreadable. With a little amount of strain she managed to decipher what was written.

"To open the gates of the mystical valley a small amount of magical powers are required," she read aloud her voice echoing through the eerie cave.

Sakura's thoughts ran back to what to her mother had said. A powerful emotion was needed to kindle her magical powers. What about love? It was a powerful emotion. So Sakura decided to think about the people she loved—her parents, her brothers….

She concentrated hard on her thoughts about her family. Finally she opened one eye to see if she had progressed, but unfortunately the stone wall hadn't moved an inch. She sighed but refused to give up. This was a new experience to her. She had never once given a thought about trying to use the magical powers she was supposed to have. She closed her eyes, holding her hands together in front of her chest, her head slightly bowed and concentrated hard.

But her thoughts went astray and her mind was filled with memories of the recent disorder in the family. How her home was destroyed…her family cursed and _Syaoran…_

His handsome face popped in her head for just a millisecond yet it caused her heart to beat rapidly her cheeks to burn. She thought about how he rescued her…how they met in the secret garden…and she felt something warm fill up her body…

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a rumbling noise. She quickly opened her eyes only to find the huge stone wall was _actually opening! _

She stepped on the small stone path on the other side, her pace a little faster that it had been before. _I wonder what made that wall open…_ She wondered (A/N just like her usual dense self in the anime .)

Presently she came across a huge iron gate with bars and a huge black rose engraved on each side of the gate. The door magically flew open as soon as she stepped in front of it. Sakura eagerly walked in and what she saw made her gasp loudly. The mystic valley was the most beautiful place she'd ever seen. The stone path continued a little further but was blocked by a huge cherry tree (which Sakura personally thought was stupid because why keep a path if it led to a dead end?) On either side was of the path was the largest and beautiful_est _flowers you'd ever dreamed of. The entire garden was bathed in the moonlight giving it a sort of haunting look but Sakura felt that it only enhanced the beauty of the garden. She walked a little further not taking her eyes of the pretty flowers even once, her heart jumping leaps and bounds in joy. She wanted to follow her heart and scream happily but instead only tears came out, happy tears of course for she was one step closer to saving her family.

She settled down at the bottom of the cherry tree and placing the lantern next to her and began reading the contents of the book that Syaoran had given her.

**Author's note: **That's the end of this chapter. Phew! My fingers are aching…That was seven pages long. Sorry if it was a bit boring. Looks like Sakura and Syaoran are just beginning to fall in love. I also added a few lines from 'That's the way it is" by Celine Deon…I was hearing to it so I decided to put it in as well. Anyway I'll try my best to make the next chapter a little bit more interesting. Before I leave here's a preview of the up coming chapter…

Next on From Sunrise to Sunset: The fair

"Where are we going?"

"To the fair in the next village"

"What!"

Signing off,

sakura doll!


	5. The fair

**Author's note: ** I'm back! Sorry for the delay. Now that may month is here I can update more quickly coz my hols have begun (cheers ). Here's chapter 5! I didn't get many reviews for my last chapter so I was quite disappointed. So plz leave me lots of reviews this time. And a huge thanks to all those who reviewed! I hope you like this chapter.

**IMPORTANT NOTE: ** I've posted my **profile**, please check out my future fanfics and tell me what you think in your reviews. Happy reading!

**Chapter 5: **

The wind blew against her, making the light of the lamp flicker for a second. Sakura read aloud,

"_The end of autumn is approaching. This day is very special because I finally achieved my long standing goal. I finally found the mystic valley. It is exactly as I imagined, maybe even better… I can sense a strange aura in this place. Just like the secret garden in the castle. I took Joe to the secret garden but somehow he couldn't even see it. I've always been told that I have stronger magic than anyone in my family. Is that the reason why I came here?"_

That was the end. Sakura turned the next page and began to read the next entry.

"_Last night I had a strange dream. A magical voice told me that it was my strong desire that helped me enter the mystic valley. And that I had a mission to accomplish. Curiously I asked the voice what it was that I had to fulfill. The answer I got was pretty vague…that my mission had something to do about the Kinomoto Kingdom."_

The next entry in the diary was even shorter.

"_The King and queen of the Kinomoto Kingdom have been cursed to become flowers. And it's my job to save them…though I don't yet know why………"_

Sakura turned the pages eagerly thinking that if her parents were cursed the same way then she might pick up some clues about saving her family.

But to her utter disappointment the next couple of pages were blank. She stared at it and ran her fingers over the page. There were light shades of ink in the corners of the page and Sakura supposed that someone must have accidentally spilt water on the diary. She sighed and flipped through the rest of the pages. There was nothing in it at all. She was about to close the diary but she spotted some writing in the last page. She began reading the last entry…

"_It's been 50 years since I opened the gateway to the mystic valley. My last days are approaching…I know it. Things have changed drastically. The new king to the Kinomoto kingdom, whose parents I rescued, is sadly a tyrant. He has already attempted twice to capture our Kingdom for the sake of the mystic valley. Recently many people have discovered magical plants around the valley that can cure any human disease. This has increased his thirst to capture our land. I only wish someday that our kingdoms could become friends…"_

Sakura closed the book surprised by her discovery. "It seems a little silly reason for such a tension between our lands," she murmured to herself remembering how Syaoran's father had reacted on hearing about her kingdom.

She got up picking the lantern with her and walked to the gates of the mystic valley and took a last look at the beautiful garden of flowers. "I'll be back tomorrow," she said to herself, "I'll be back with my mother's diary and then I can finally save my family," She walked out and the gates closed behind her.

She walked back only half conscious because of her weariness. Subconsciously her mind led her to the secret garden in the palace and she was so tired that she settled to sleep under the cherry blossom trees. But before she could sleep she felt a huge shadow loom over her. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up into a pair of puzzled amber eyes.

"Sakura?"

"Your Majesty! I mean Syaoran," she corrected seeing him frown slightly.

"What are you doing her at this time?" it was a few hours before dawn and Sakura wanted to catch some well deserved sleep.

"I just got up early I guess"

"Yeah but this is way too early,"

"What are you doing at this time anyway?" Sakura asked

"Same as you I got up early, so I thought I'd train," he said showing her his sword. It was still in its sheath so Sakura supposed that he hadn't begun training yet.

"No, you shouldn't train so early. Why it isn't even dawn yet! It's not um…healthy. An old man told me that," she said all this one breath her hands fidgeting with the front of her dress as she did.

Syaoran thought she sounded nervous but he didn't know why. Little did he know that Sakura's mind was practically yelling at him to leave.

"_Oh hurry up and leave! If he stays any longer he'll find out about my curse. I can't let that happen. What do I do? WHAT DO I DO!_

"Maybe you're right I'm a little tired so I think I'll go back and catch some more sleep," he said not feeling sleepy at all but somehow he could sense that she didn't want him around. "But I want you to promise me something,"

"What?"

"Will you meet me at sunset tonight?"

"Why?"

"It's a surprise. Well do you promise?"

"Yes. I promise," she said a little disappointed because she was planning on going to the mystic valley again. But at this moment anything to make him go away seemed like a good idea.

The next day sped away so quickly that before she knew it, it was sunset—time to meet him.

She crept into the secret garden at sunset but he was already there.

"Hello" he greeted her as she came.

"Um…" she said looking at him, confused for instead of his usual princely robes he was wearing a sleeveless black shirt and brown pants with a cloak (A/N: Something like what Syaoran wears in the beginning of Tsubasa. I don't much about it so I hope I'm right)

"What's that for?" she asked pointing to the majestic black stallion behind him.

"This is my horse, Clover" he said.

"Where are you going?"

"You mean _we_," he corrected. "We are going to the fair in the next village,"

"What!"

"So, you don't want to go?" he grinned at her surprise.

Sakura gaped at him, "I can't go like this," she said looking at her clothes.

Sure enough the gown that she was wearing was torn up to only a few inches below her knee and her once full sleeved dress was now sleeveless with bits of torn cloth hanging around her sleeve. The light pink dress was caked in dirt and mud that it was nearly black.

"I already thought about that," he said handing her a wrapped package. Wordlessly she unwrapped the package to find a pretty but simple frock. She stared at the silk dress in front of her.

"It used to be one of my sisters. I hope you like it. I'm sorry I couldn't get you a new one because I didn't want anyone to get suspicious," he said blushing slightly.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I'll go try it on,"

He nodded and added, "You'll find a pair of shoes in there as well," She disappeared into the bushes and came back within minutes wearing the frock he'd given her. It was tan colored frock with puffy sleeves and orange piping for the sleeves and a pretty orange bow in the front with matching sandals. It was very simple but it looked good on her.

"How does it look? Is it too big for me?" she asked him shyly.

"No. It's just right. You look nice." He replied, "Shall we go now? I don't want to be late"

"Sure. But are we going on that?" she asked pointing to his horse.

"Yeah"

She looks a little nervous, he thought. He quickly mounted the horse and motioned her to sit behind him. Trembling a little she sat behind him quietly slipping her hands round his waist.

"L…Let's go," he stammered blushing.

And so off they went. It was a slow journey and every time there was a little jerk Sakura would tighten her grip around him pressing her cheek on his back making his heart beat faster, his cheeks burn and nearly choking him to death.

"Sakura, can you loosen your grip a bit? I…"he puffed, "…can't breathe…"

"Oops sorry!" she giggled blushing.

"Are you scared of riding horses?"

"Yes and No," she replied.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I don't mind riding on my own, I'm scared to go with someone else,"

"That's weird. Why?"

"Because when I was little by brother dropped me into the pond when he took me riding with him. I nearly drowned, but a villager saved me. I was in the water for only a few minutes but I was scared to death…and to make matters worse there were a lot of frogs creeping all over me," she shivered at that thought. "And I've been scared ever since,"

"You could have said something, you know. I'd have brought another horse with me," he said.

"I didn't want to trouble you more than I already have," she said and then bent her head a little so that the shadow of her bangs covered her eyes.

"Can I ask you something Syaoran?"

"Sure. What's wrong?"

"Why…are you doing this much for me? You could easily have me arrested as I'm from the enemy country…"

He thought for a while and replied, "Well firstly I don't like wars or feuds of any sort. They're just a waste of time. And secondly I like your sincerity, your determination to complete whatever this mission is for your family. From what I see it's not an easy task, I mean escaping into the enemies land and all…you're really brave and you're devoted to what you do. You're ready to risk everything for the ones you care about. I can see all this in your eyes. However cheerful you try to sound, your eyes give you away…they tell the truth about you…I know you're hiding something from me…something painful. But you can tell me when you're ready to; I won't force you into telling me Sakura,"

Sakura stared into his gentle amber eyes, her mind digesting what he had said. She felt tears well up and she whispered, "Oh Syaoran, thank you for understanding how I feel. I don't how I'm ever going to repay you,"

"Shh…don't cry," he raised a gloved hand and wiped a tear from her cheek, "We're going to a fair now and I want you to put your troubles away and enjoy yourself, ok?"

Sakura wiped her tears and gave him a small smile. It was a small one but genuine. The two of them were quiet for the rest of the journey.

_Why am I being so nice to her? _He wondered. _I have never been so nice to any one so far. There's just something about her…her childlike innocence and her firm determination set in those beautiful emerald eyes…I seem to be falling under her spell…_

Pretty soon they reached the fair. The shrine outside the village was decorated colorfully with paper and bright lamps. There were a lot of people having fun with their families and friends, all dressed in nice new clothes. The people in the stall were yelling themselves hoarse beckoning the customers towards their stall. Sakura looked around at her surroundings, a rare sparkle in her emerald eyes.

"I see, you like this place," a voice came from behind.

"Mm….yes, it's wonderful!" she exclaimed smiling at Syaoran who had just tied his horse to a nearby tree.

"Well let's go check it out, then," he said grabbing her and dragging her with him. He led her to a juice stall first, because he felt a little thirsty and felt sure that she must be feeling the same after their long ride. Sakura happily sipped her orange juice and chatted away with him, "I want to go to all the stalls…please can we Syaoran? And I saw a candy store too, can we go there also? And then I want to go try out the hoopla and the…." She stopped realizing that she was rambling.

She blushed and apologized, "Sorry…I guess I got carried away,"

Syaoran shook his head and laughed, "Don't apologize. We can go everywhere because we have all the time in the world. I'll take you everywhere you want to go,"

Sakura brightened up at this, "Yay!" she jumped in joy, placed her glass down on the stall and grabbed his hand and hauled him over to the nearest stall. There was a bright sign outside that said, "Lucky draw! Come and try your luck. Every one gets a prize!"

"What am I supposed to do?" Sakura asked the old lady in the shop eagerly.

The old woman handed her a pair of dice and replied, "Just roll the dice."

"That's all I got to do?" Sakura asked amazed.

"Yep," replied the old woman, "That's what the sign says, everyone gets a prize,"

"I'll go first and then you try ok?" she said turning to Syaoran.

Syaoran smiled at her enthusiasm and nodded his head, "Sure."

Sakura took a deep breath and threw her dice on the table. She had rolled a number 11. The old woman asked a boy beside her to fetch a box labeled 11. The boy did as he was told and opened the box revealing a delicate gold chain with a pendant of a heart except there was only half of the heart.

Sakura stared at the peculiar chain but she loved it, "It's beautiful," she whispered. She was about to get it from the boy but his eyes were wide and he was staring at the chain, his mouth hanging open. To Sakura and Syaoran's perplexity even the old woman was looking at in awe. And before either of them could do anything the boy stood up on the wooden table and began yelling, "Everyone! Come quick! She's got the broken heart pendant!"

Almost at once the entire lot of people came scurrying towards the two, chattering excitedly.

"She got it! I can't believe it! "

"Lucky girl!"

"Finally after all these years!"

Sakura and Syaoran were completely bewildered by the whole situation.

"Is it a good thing?" Sakura asked timidly.

"Of course it's a good thing!" exclaimed a plump lady animatedly. "Why don't you tell them the story Grandma?" she asked the old woman in the stall who nodded in agreement, clearing her throat and began, "Long ago, about a few centuries before, there lived a priestess in this village. She had extremely strong magical powers. It was believed that she protected our village from the dragons, which you know are extinct now. Well it is said that she fell in love with a young man but sadly before their marriage he betrayed her and left with another woman. Filled with rage and anger the young priestess forged this pendant in the shape of half a heart made of her love for the man, the other half she hid away and killed herself. Only a person with a pure heart will be able to obtain this pendant," she gave Sakura a smile and went on, "The other part of the pendant will be found only if you find a person who will love you as much as you love him,"

"Not that you need to find him," the plump lady said nudging Sakura and giving a glance at Syaoran, making both of them blush immediately.

"Go on, young lad, put it on her," the old lady said as the boy handed a red Syaoran the chain.

Syaoran gripped the chain nervously and walked up to Sakura who just as red. He leaned over her shoulder placing the chain around her neck.

Sakura blushed even harder realizing how close he was to her, why he was practically hugging her! Sakura was clutching at the front of his shirt, her hands trembling, as he fumbled over the clasp of the chain. Finally he had put it on and he stepped back. The entire crowd cheered.

A shadow of unexpected disappointment crossed Syaoran's face because nothing happened. The plump lady was quick to notice it. "Don't look like that my boy. It takes time for the magic to work. Besides your love for the young lady isn't strong enough yet to summon the other part of the pendant," she said patting him on the back so hard that he nearly fell over.

"What?" Sakura asked looking confused for she obviously hadn't heard what the lady had told him.

Syaoran blushed and shook his head. The two of them stared uncomfortably at the ground wondering how too get out of his embarrassing situation. To their relief an interruption came. A man came running towards the crowd of people and shouted,

"Come on! The fireworks show will be starting soon," Hearing this, the crowd started dispersing leaving the two of them alone.

"Um…shall we go?" Syaoran asked not daring to lift his eyes from the ground.

Sakura looked up at him and smiled, her cheeks still a faint red, "Sure,"

The two of them walked in silence towards the lake where the fireworks show was to be held. Syaoran was completely lost in thoughts._ Damn it! Why am I feeling so disappointed? Do I really want to find the other half of that pendant? Maybe I do…_

"Syaoran?" a melodic voice disrupted his thoughts.

He looked up questioningly into her gorgeous emerald eyes.

"Is something wrong? Why are you so upset?'

Syaoran shook his head and smiled, "No, I'm fine…really," he added when she eyed him a little disbelievingly.

She suddenly laughed and ran forward, "Catch me if you can!" He tore after her, "You bet I will!" _What was wrong with him? He was the one who asked her to forget all her troubles. Maybe he should take his own advice…_

Syaoran caught up to Sakura in no time grabbing her by the hand. She shrieked and fell on top of him, panting.

"I caught you…" he said catching his breath.

Sakura quickly grabbed a few autumn leaves from the ground and stuffed it to down the front of his shirt.

"Well now you didn't…" she said jumping off him and running again. Syaoran got up startled at what she did but quickly pulled out all the leaves and sprinted after her.

"You're going to pay for that!"

He was about to catch her again but a voice came, "The show's about to start!" The pair realized that they must have reached the lake when Sakura remembered something,

"Syaoran, what is that fire—thingy that man was talking about?"

"Oh, you mean the fireworks," Syaoran corrected. "Well it's something that the Chinese people recently discovered, you'll see. It's very pretty. They make beautiful patterns in the sky."

"Patterns in the sky?" Sakura asked eagerly, "I can hardly wait to see them. But are you sure they aren't scary?"

"No, no they aren't scary, Sakura," he replied taking her to a spot away from the crowd near the lake where they could view the fireworks.

There was a huge noise and a firework flew into the sky forming a pretty red pattern. "You see that Sakura…" Syaoran turned but Sakura wasn't there. He spun around and caught a part of her dress sticking from behind a tree.

"Sakura?" he went up to the tree and saw her trembling with her hands covering her ears.

"You said they won't be scary, but they make such huge noises like thunder," she wailed.

"Oh Sakura, I didn't know loud noises scared you. But you have to see the fireworks, I'm sure you'll like them,"

Sakura agreed and came over to the spot they'd been standing earlier, her hands ready to cover her ears.

Syaoran stood behind her catching her shoulders. BOOM! The second firework was off and this time it made a blue pattern in the sky. Sakura's shoulders stiffened a bit on hearing the sound but she forgot her fear on seeing the pretty pattern.

"Wow! So pretty!" she said softly relaxing and leaning her back against Syaoran's chest.

"Glad you like it," Syaoran grinned, quietly slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

The two of them enjoyed the beautiful spectacle in front of them forgetting how close they were standing…..

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura yawned loudly for the fifth time. She leaned on his back trying her best not to fall asleep. Time ticked by and the only sound was the horse's hooves thudding against the ground.

"Sakura?" Syaoran called wondering why she was so quiet. Suddenly he felt her arms slipping off his waist… He quickly whirled around, one of his hands leaving the horse's rein for a moment and grabbed Sakura's arm pulling her in front of him to safety. With the other he tugged the horse's rein forcing it to stop.

"Sakura!" he said patting her cheek trying to wake her. She sleepily opened her eyes.

"Silly girl! You could have told me that you were sleepy, you nearly fell of the horse," he said.

"Sorry Syaoran," she mumbled, her eyelids drooping. She pressed her cheek on his shoulder, moved her self on the horse's saddle in front of him and once she became comfortable, she fell asleep breathing gently against his neck.

Syaoran shook his head smiling and placing his hands around her, he took hold of the reins of the horse and rode back to the castle.

Syaoran pulled the horses rein once they'd reached the palace. The horse neighed, quite softly but it woke Sakura up. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and looked up at him,

"We're back,"

He nodded jumping off the horse and helped her down.

"Would you like me to take you home?"

Sakura felt a pang in her heart when she heard this. She had no home, her home was destroyed…

Syaoran noticed the sad look in her eyes and he asked her gently, "Is something wrong Sakura?"

Sakura shook her head and replied, "No I'm ok," she gave him a small smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. He took off his cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Take that. It's a bit windy tonight,"

Sakura smiled again, a better one this time, "Thank you so much for everything tonight, Syaoran," she said and to his surprise and her own, she reached up and gave him a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. Then suddenly realizing what she'd done, she withdrew blushing,

"S—sorry, good night," She whirled around and sped off.

'_What did I just do? Oh why is my heart beating so fast?' _ She wondered running all the way and she didn't stop till she reached her cave. Finally exhaustion took over her and she slumped on the sandy floor of the cave wrapping his warm sweet smelling cloak around her as a blanket. They didn't do as much as she had wanted to but it still had been the best day of her life…

**Author's note; ** That's the end of the fifth chapter! 8 pages long! The longest one I've ever typed. I hope it makes up for my delay. I'll post the nest chapter ASAP! Happy holidays!

This is sakura doll signing off! See ya!


	6. The first flower

**Author's note: **I'm sorry for the delay! I'm suffering from writers block actually… so this chapter might not be as good as you people expect, but I've done my best. But don't worry this story will go on till the end so keep reading and reviewing ppl! Here's chapter 6!

**Chapter 6;**

When Syaoran awoke the next day, he found that his pet nightingale was back again.

"Where do you keep disappearing off to?" he asked as the two of them walked down the hallway to the dining room. But Sakura wasn't paying attention. Her mind kept drifting to thoughts of the previous day and she found herself in an extraordinarily jubilant mood. She was singing to herself, the first song that had popped in her mind.

Syaoran looked puzzled, "What's going on?" he asked more to himself than the bird.

_Flashback_

"_S—sorry, goodnight," she spun on her heels and tore off leaving a very embarrassed but a sort of happy Syaoran behind._

_He couldn't believe that she had actually hugged him! He felt so happy that for the first time in his life he had wanted to sing and dance with joy._

_He shook his head vigoursly and thought to himself, 'What's wrong with me' Syaoran tossed and turned in his bed unable to sleep. He blushed every time he thought of her sweet cherry blossom scent, her bright emerald eyes, and her bubbly voice._

_End of flashback_

Syaoran felt his cheeks burn again. And as usual his sisters burst into the hallway chorusing "Good morning!"

"Good morning," he said trying to sound gruff like he usually did but instead his voice came out as a squeak.

His sisters looked at him surprised. Feimei peered closely at him, "Hmm…you're acting different today,"

"What do you mean?"

Sheifa replied for her sister, "Well every day it is…" she cleared her throat, " 'Good morning!'" she said in a huffy tone imitating him, "and today it was, 'Good morning'" she said with an exaggerated squeak.

"So what?" Syaoran said turning away, "Maybe I have a sore throat,"

"Or maybe, you were thinking something and we interrupted you," Fuutie said eyeing him suspiciously.

"No way!" he yelled.

"Girls I think little bro has a crush on someone and was probably thinking of his beautiful angel," Fanran said with a know-it-all glint in her eye.

At once Sakura's face popped in his head and to his utter dismay but to the delight of his sisters he blushed, but quickly bent down hoping they hadn't noticed. But his sisters were sharper at noticing stuff like that.

"He's blushing! You hit the nail on the head Fanran!" Feimei squealed.

"So we were right! That's where he must have disappeared to last night. His horse was missing remember," Fuutie declared to her sisters and the four of them rounded on poor Syaoran.

"So tell us, what is she like?"

"Is she pretty?"

"What color eyes does she have?"

They pounded him with questions. "It—it's not wh—what you think," he stammered. Fortunately a bell rang in the distance telling them that they were late for breakfast.

"Oh shit!" Sheifa cursed, "We're late for breakfast. Let's continue our conversation later little bro,"

Syaoran sighed in relief as they disappeared. He began wondering if his sisters were monsters in disguise, how quickly they change! He looked around for his pet, Sakura, who had been frightened had perched herself on his head burying herself in his autumn and sandalwood scented hair. She felt a pair of hands lifting her,

"There you are," Syaoran said stroking her. He placed her back on his shoulder and dashed off to the dining room.

'_I could get drunk in your smell' _Sakura thought dreamily and then shook herself. _'Bad thoughts Sakura,'_

She jumped off his shoulder and began flying next to him because she wanted to stretch her wings.

"Sorry," Syaoran apologized as he entered the dining room ignoring his sniggering sisters.

"Where were you last evening Syaoran?" his mother asked.

"I just went for a ride mother like I usually do," he replied as casually as he could.

"Very well" his mother replied and nothing more was said.

(Time gap)

At sunset Sakura settled down near her cave and opened her mother's diary. (She hadn't dared to go to the secret garden because she didn't want to meet Syaoran) Sure enough just as her mother had said words began to appear on the diary,

'_I'm innocent_

_Just like you_

_I'm sweet and lovely_

_Just like you_

_I'm like the pure love in your heart_

_And I'm your good luck gift_

_Who am I?'_

Sakura stared at this strange message, "A riddle," she murmured to herself. Sakura read the lines again and concluded that she had to find a flower. She decided to go to the mystic valley, and then it would be easier to find out which flower it was.

She walked quickly towards the mystic valley, racking her brains so many flowers mean innocence… but what about the other lines. Finally having arrived in the mystic valley she strolled around looking at the flowers around her.

"Hey Freesia means innocence, so is it the flower I'm looking for?" she wondered and walked over to the next flower bed and exclaimed, "Orange blossom means innocence too! Damn this is getting me nowhere I think I'll ignore the first line for now."

She looked around for half an hour and was about to give up but suddenly she tripped falling into a flower bed. She groaned and sat up rubbing her head.

"Hey these are white carnations!" she cried out. She scrambled out of the bush and picking up her dropped lantern and her diary she glanced at the lines once more and remembered that her mother had once said that most flowers have more than one meaning. White carnations represented innocence, sweetness, pure love and people also believed that it was a woman's good luck gift. She had found it! The first flower!

"So the first flower is a white carnation. Am I right?" The page in the diary let out a faint glow as though telling her she was right.

"What do I do? Pluck one?" the diary glowed again and she supposed that she was right. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard her hand tracing over the flowers. She suddenly felt a strange presence in one of the flowers and quickly plucked it. She opened her eyes and the diary began glowing again a little more brightly this time and the words disappeared. Sakura cheered in joy. She had done it! She had finally found the first flower

But she felt all the energy drain out of her and she slumped down feeling a little dizzy. She opened the diary once more to see if there was more writing in it, but there wasn't. She shook it hard but it was no use. She sat down on her knees and prayed. She suddenly heard a familiar voice in her head.

'_Sakura'_

Mom! Where are you, mom?

'_Listen Sakura I don't have much time. First congratulations on finding the first flower,'_

What about the other ones? How will I find them?

'_Patience, Sakura. The diary's magic is directly connected to yours. You've already drained your magical powers finding this flower. When your powers are strong again then more words will appear in the diary. Good luck Sakura,'_

Thanks mom.

She sighed and got up feeling a little nauseous. She placed the flower and the diary in her pocket and carrying the lantern, she staggered back. She reached the secret garden in the palace and unable to go any further she had decided to take some rest.

"Sakura?"

She turned around groggily to see blurred amber eyes. Her dizziness caught up to her and she fell down but he caught her before she hit the ground.

"Sakura! What's wrong?" he asked sounding a little worried.

"I'm just a little tired Syaoran," She whispered burying her head in his shirt. She sunk on the floor dragging her with him.

"You seem more than tired to me. Do you have a fever?" he asked placing his hand on her forehead but it wasn't very hot.

"I'll be fine," she mumbled getting up and walking over to a nearby tree and sitting down leaning her head against it. Syaoran ran up to her and sat next to her, worry plastered on his face.

"Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes," she replied. "I'm fine," and then her stomach grumbled causing her to blush embarrassedly.

He smiled and said, "I'll get something to eat," And he came back in a short while catching a tray of bread, butter and a glass of water. Sakura ate the food silently and drank the water. She stretched feeling much better.

"Thanks Syaoran, I'm feeling much better now,"

"Glad to hear it." He said setting down the empty tray and sitting next to her. She was feeling better but not completely well. She stifled a yawn and leaned her head on his shoulder making him blush heavily.

"The stars are so pretty tonight, aren't they?" she asked slipping her arm in his.

"Mmm…" Syaoran muttered blushing.

"Uh…excuse me I'll go and place these things back," he mumbled.

"S-sure, um…sorry," she replied blushing.

He got up and ran off clutching at the tray he'd brought. _What's up with me? I keep feeling like this whenever I'm near her…Is it lo……_

"Syaoran," his thoughts were interrupted by a voice, which was strangely familiar.

"Mom!" He jumped as he came face to face with queen who was wearing a frown.

"What are you doing at this time with that tray?"

"Uh…I just felt hungry, I guess,"

"Which is surprising because you were unexpectedly red during dinner and you had an enormous amount of food, at least five times more than you're regular appetite. And to me it seemed as though you never even tasted anything,"

"Of course I did!" he replied trying to sound indignant. _Why did God make mothers so damn sharp?_

"Oh and what did we have tonight?"

"Uh... Italian food?"

"Actually it was French," his mother replied with a smirk.

"Ugh! Don't ask stuff like that! This is not a police interrogation."

His mother sighed, "I know. But I won't ask anymore. Just go to bed this instant, I heard that you're sneaking out pretty often these days and that's not good for health. You'll have dark shadows under your eyes due to lack of sleep,"

"You're that one cares about beauty not me," he muttered.

"Ahem," his mother gave him a glare and tapped her foot impatiently.

"I get the message. Good night mom," he replied walking back to his room.

Once he was out of sight, the queen chuckled to herself. _I'm beginning to think that my son has finally fallen in love. So miracles do happen…_

Syaoran sighed loudly as he got in to bed. Sakura was probably still waiting for him. "Sorry Sakura," he mumbled before falling asleep.

The next day he found that his pet nightingale was on his bedside table, carrying a note. She chirped loudly and placed the piece of paper on his hand. Inside it was written in neat handwriting.

'_I saw you talking to your mother last night, Sorry if I got you into trouble,_

_Sincerely yours_

_Sakura,'_

He smiled as he read the note. But his smile turned into a puzzled frown, 'How did she know about my pet?"

**Author's note; **I know that was the shortest and most boring chapter but I'll make it up to you guys I promise! The next chapter will be up by Friday at the latest. And for those who read What my heart wants, the next chapter is almost done. I'll post it ASAP!

Till we meet next time, this is sakura doll signing off!


	7. An arrest and a realization

**Author's note ** Hi everyone! Here's the next chapter. Before that here's a summary of what has happened till the previous chapter.

**Summary **The capital of the Kinomoto Kingdom is destroyed…young princess Sakura Kinomoto embarks on a journey to find the magical Valley of the Butterflies in the Li kingdom in order to save her family who were cursed by an evil witch. But the journey isn't easy being cursed herself, to be a nightingale by day and a human by night. Sakura has recently discovered that her parents and her brothers were cursed to become flowers in the mystic valley. And she's finally found one of the flowers…only three flowers more.

And a huge thanks to all my reviewers for your encouraging reviews! It really kept me going. I hope you like this chapter.

**Chapter 7**

Sakura sang to herself as she flew across the busy streets of the village. Syaoran had gone on a horse ride with his master and Sakura hadn't been very fond of his short temper and that cold beady stare he kept giving her, so she had decided to go on short walk rather flight herself. He was obviously the best sword master in the country which is obviously why he trained the prince. (A/N: That's enough about his master; he's not an important character. That's why I didn't even give him a name! .!)

"Hey look everyone, a nightingale," a shrill voice ran and Sakura saw a young boy of about 10 years old pointing at her. At his announcement all of his friends turned and stared at her. Sakura didn't like the way they looked at her, they seemed like the kids who threw stones at small animals, which is exactly what they did.

"Attack!" yelled the first boy and at once all his friends started catapulting her with sticks stones and everything they got their hands on.

Sakura squealed in pain and tried her best to shake them off, but all the kids chased her all the way to the palace yelling and throwing stones. Sakura managed to shake them off as she entered the palace garden but her wing was badly injured, she whimpered in pain and hopped all the way to Syaoran's room.

She had no strength to fly to her cage so she fell down on the carpet her blood making tiny spots on the carpet. To make things worse the maid entered to clean his room and was enraged to see her,

"Stupid bird! You've stained the carpet! Do you have any idea how much work it is to take of that stain?" she screamed and roughly grabbed Sakura who whimpered again.

"What's going on over here?" came a familiar voice from the doorway making Sakura's heart leap.

There on the doorway stood Syaoran as majestic as ever with beads of sweat running down the side of his face and frown etched on his features. Both Sakura and the maid looked at him, Sakura blushing and the maid stuttering,

"N-nothing your majesty. I-I was just going to clean your room," she dropped Sakura on the floor of her cage and shot off before Syaoran could react. He ran to the cage and examined his poor pet.

"You're hurt! What happened to you?" Sakura groaned softly in pain. He gently lifted her from the cage and took her in his warm hands.

He washed her wound and then tied his handkerchief firmly around it. "There that should take care of it," he laid her on the bed and said,

"You take some rest, I'll get you some lunch when I've finished mine," Sakura only heard half of what he said for she was half asleep cuddled in his warm blanket.

Sakura didn't know how long she slept, but when she woke up a bowl of fruits was placed on the table. She smiled to herself and helped herself to some grapes and then drank some water. She looked out of the window and saw the sun sinking slowly in the west when a sudden thought struck her.

_It's almost sunset, which means that I'll transform soon! No way! I have to get out! But my wings are so stiff…_

With a lot of trouble she flew out of the prince's room, but just as she was crossing the palace wall the sun sank completely behind the horizon causing her to transform in to a girl.

"Ouch!" she landed on the palace wall and looked down, _No, how do I get down from here?_

"Hey, you! What are you doing up there?" Sakura looked down and saw one of the palace guards looking at her.

"Uh—well my bird flew over this way. I came to get here," she replied thinking of the first excuse in her head. She quickly removed Syaoran's handkerchief which was tied around her arm and stuffed it in his pocket.

"Don't lie! You just came to steal didn't you?" he shouted and before Sakura could protest she was yanked from the wall and dragged into the palace.

"Lord Kenji, we've found a suspicious person," said the guard, who was holding her and he pushed her forcefully.

Sakura stared at the general of the Li kingdom angrily, "I didn't do anything! You have no right to accuse me!"

"Listen girl, we know what we're doing. You're just a peasant! How dare you talk back to us!"

Tears stung Sakura's eyes. But he was right; she was no longer the princess of the Kinomoto Kingdom. To them she was nothing but a peasant. The guards dragged her towards the court and threw her in front of the king. She fell on her knees on the floor, lightly scraping her knees.

Lord Kenji bowed to the king and said in a pompous tone, "Your majesty we've found the thief who's been lurking around the village recently,"

"But I am not!" Sakura protested.

"Silence!" the general ordered. He turned to the king and said, "With your permission, your Highness I'd like to interrogate with the criminal,"

The king nodded.

"Empty your pockets," he commanded. Sakura hesitated, "Now!" he growled. Sakura quickly pulled out the contents of her pockets. A diary, a white carnation, an expensive looking hair ornament that Syaoran had bought for her in the fair (A/N; I know I haven't mentioned it before but just assume he did,) and his handkerchief.

The commander picked up the diary and flipped through it's pages. "An empty diary…hmm… I wonder why you want this. Maybe I should just throw it away," he said menacingly.

"No!" she screamed, "My mother gave it to me…it's precious," she said her voice shaking.

"And what's a peasant like you doing with something as expensive as this," he said picking up the hair ornament and thrusting it at her. Sakura simply glared at him.

"My mother gave that to me too,"

"And this…" he picked up Syaoran's handkerchief and opened it, revealing the royal insignia stitched on it.

Everyone in the court gasped. Sakura didn't know what to say. She stayed quiet. "I hope this is proof enough Your Highness. I knew that she…"

"I gave it to her," a sharp voice rang through the royal court. Every head in the court turned towards the source of the voice. Syaoran entered the court, his amber eyes cold and hard. He walked up to his father and repeated, "I gave it to her,"

"You did?" his father asked disbelievingly.

"Yes father I did. I found her lying injured when I was riding, so I bandaged her wound for her," he turned towards the general, "Well isn't that proof enough that she's innocent?" Sakura looked at him gratefully but he didn't meet her gaze.

Lord Kenji ignored the prince and turned towards King Ryu, "I am not convinced, your majesty. Since the court is almost over. I suggest we keep her in the dungeon tonight and report her to the court tomorrow morning." And before waiting for the king's approval he ordered his men to take her to the dungeons. Sakura stared at him in horror,

"No, no I didn't do anything! I really didn't! Please believe me!" she pleaded but her the guards paid no heed to her and dragged her down to the dungeons. Syaoran waited for his father to stop them but when he didn't, he exploded,

"What's wrong with you! I proved that she was innocent didn't I?" his voice echoed through the emptying room as the courtiers left. He glared daggers at his father who sighed, "You know what the general is like. Always thinks he's right. And we didn't give her death sentence, son. Don't worry; you can prove her innocence in the court again tomorrow," with that he left the room leaving Syaoran who was trembling with fury.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura sat huddled in the corner of the dark prison cell, wondering what would happen if they found out she was a bird. Then she'd never be able rescue her family again. The more she thought, the more she wanted to cry, but she didn't want the guards to think she was weak.

Time ticked by slowly and the only sounds she heard were footsteps of the guards against the cold hard stone floor of the corridors. After a long time she heard the sound of her door being opened. Probably they had come to give her food. She tensed up as the footsteps neared her but didn't dare to look up.

"Sakura," she heard a gentle voice calling her name and felt a hand touch her shoulder. The voice was so familiar. Syaoran…what was he doing here?

She let go of her knees that she had been clutching to her chest and straightened up a bit still not looking at him.

He slid a finger down her chin and lifted her bent head, forcing him to look at his amber orbs. She quickly averted her gaze because she didn't want him to see the tears forming in her emerald eyes. But he was quick to notice it.

"It's all right," he whispered. "It's better to cry and let out all your feelings sometimes,"

Sakura looked at his amber eyes, then after a minute's hesitation, she flung herself in his arms and broke down completely. She sobbed loudly in his chest, her fingers clinging on to the front of his shirt. The thoughts of her family and her home kept repeating in her head like a never ending nightmare….

Her tears soaked his dress but he didn't care, she suddenly felt his warm hands wrap around her pulling her in a tight embrace, making her feel warm and comforted. It felt right…just right…

"Its okay, it's fine…" he muttered soothingly under his breath. Her sobs echoed loudly in the corridors but he didn't try to stop her. She cried bitterly letting out her feelings that had been tied as knot in her throat, releasing all the suffering that she'd been through….

Finally her sobs quieted a bit and she mumbled softly, "S-sorry," without lifting her head from his chest.

He shook his head, "No I'm the one who should say sorry, for putting you through all this," She smiled softly turning her head to one side resting her cheek against him.

"Now, let's get out of this hell hole shall we?"

Sakura lifted her head and looked up at him, "But that would be breaking out, won't it?"

"Call it what you want, but we're getting out," He was about to stand but Sakura caught his arm,

"Syaoran, I can't come to the court tomorrow." Her voice faltered, "The mission, I told you about, well you see I have to go someplace tomorrow and if I don't go there by dawn, then I might not be able to see my family again," tears threatened to fall again, but she brushed them away. "I guess I'm crying too much"

He shook his head and grinned, "No and don't worry about tomorrow. I'll take care of it. Now let's hurry up and get going,"

She was about to protest again but he placed his finger on her lip silencing her,

"Shh…enough talk,"

She blushed and looked down at her feet and he gently lifted her in his arms, bridal style, making her blush more.

Syaoran glanced at the pretty girl lying half conscious in his arms and smiled to himself. He stepped out of the cold, dark cell and was about to leave, when

"Your Majesty," a guard said from behind him.

"What?"

The man looked at the half asleep girl in his arms and said, "I'm sorry, your highness, she's our prisoner; you can't take her out,"

"And I'd like to see you try and stop me," Syaoran said coldly. The guard said nothing and Syaoran went on,

"I'll talk to my father about this tomorrow," he said icily and stormed out.

When they reached the secret garden, he whispered, "Sakura, wake up," She opened her eyes and looked around, "Do you know where we are?" he asked her.

"Sure, the secret garden, why?" she asked puzzled.

"I have something to show you," he took her to a huge tree at one end of the garden and jumped onto one of its lowest branches still carrying her. He jumped onto the nearest branch and stood her beside him. She steadied herself by catching on the trunk. He pushed aside a curtain of leaves, revealing a wooden house.

She gasped loudly, "A tree house,"

He smiled and said, "I built it when I was young,"

The house was built on three branches. It wasn't very big, but two people could sit inside it quite comfortably. Syaoran led her in. There wasn't much furniture, just a nice mattress and blanket spread on the ground.

"It's cozy," she said.

"Glad you like it. From now on you can spend the night here, ok?"

"Can I really?" she squealed and hugged him. "Thanks Syaoran," He blushed as she withdrew. She lay down on the mattress and mumbled,

"It's soft,"

"Well goodbye Sakura. I'll see you tomorrow," He turned to leave but her hands reached out and caught his,

"Wait Syaoran," he noticed that her tone had changed. He felt her press her forehead on his back and she whispered,

"I know that I'm asking too much from you, but please can you stay with me tonight, just until I sleep,"

Then she quickly withdrew herself and said with a tiny laugh, "oh what am I saying…you're the prince. I can't ask you to stay in a place like this. Please forget that I even said that,"

He turned and looked at her and muttered, "I'll stay,"

"What?" she looked at him wondering if she'd heard right.

"I'll stay, till you sleep,"

She smiled at him happily and slid into bed, "Good night Syaoran,"

"Good night Sakura," he replied. She fell asleep very quickly. He smiled at her, his heart racing at the thoughts of the events that had happened that day.

_I finally figured out my feelings. I'm in love with you Sakura…I really am…_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

There was quite a pantomime in the court the next day. Lord Kenji stormed in dragging along with a poor villager.

"Your Majesty, this man here says that his wife's hair ornament was stolen and its description fits the one, the girl accused yesterday had," he announced.

He turned toward the guards, "Go get her now!" he ordered.

"But s-sir…" began one of them.

"Are you talking about this ornament?" interrupted a loud voice and following it came Syaoran, who surprisingly had an evil glint in his eye.

"Yes that's the one," exclaimed the general.

"where did you get it Syaoran?" his father asked curiously.

"I have my ways," he replied mysteriously and walked over to the villager and thrust it at him, "is this the one your wife lost?"

The man examined the jewel closely and shook his head, "No sir, this one has a pink stone in the middle, my wife's one had a blue stone,"

The Li general's face fell while Syaoran's smug smile widened. He looked at his father, "Well then I guess that's enough to prove that she's innocent. And as for the handkerchief, as I explained before I was the one who gave to her."

His father nodded and said, "Very well. Release the girl at once,"

"I've already taken care of that. Because I thought there was no reason to lock her up ion the first place," Syaoran replied and turned to Lord Kenji, "I hope next time, you'd be sure to check twice before you arrest someone."

And with that he strode majestically out of the room, his cape flowing behind, leaving the poor general frozen behind.

That evening Syaoran narrated everything to Sakura and also he couldn't help but brag a bit. "You should have seen the look on is face," he finished.

Sakura drank in every word in he said looking impressed, "Well Syaoran, you really are a life saver, I must say. Next time I'm in trouble, I can count on you to fish me out of it," she beamed at him and on a sudden impulse she leaned over and gave a tiny kiss on the cheek.

Then realizing what she did, she backed away, blushing. He was blushing too. They stared at the ground awkwardly before Syaoran decided to break the silence

"How did you know abut my pet by the way?" he asked remembering the note she had sent him.

"Oh that, I saw you with the bird once, you see. I felt a bit guilty about disappearing in the morning like that, that I sent a note through him. Friendly bird," she lied.

"How'd you get my handkerchief?" he asked curiously.

Sakura gulped, then she let out a nervous laugh, "I saw your pet struggling to fly with that heavy hanky on her wing so I removed it. Don't worry her wound is almost healed."

"Oh," he replied unable to think of anything else. Then he remembered that he had to tell her how he felt.

"Sakura I…uh…well I…" he stammered

"What's up?" she asked looking at him with her big, innocent emerald eyes.

"I…lo…I love the hair ornament you're wearing," he said in a rush.

"Yes," she agreed fingering it lightly, "It's pretty, thanks for getting it for me Syaoran," she smiled at him.

"I just remembered I have to be somewhere right now……so bye," he sped off.

"Bye Syaoran," Sakura called after him a little puzzled at his sudden departure.

Syaoran's heart was thumping. _What's wrong? Why couldn't I tell her? I never thought confessing your feelings was this hard……maybe I rushed a bit…I think I should wait for a while and try to get to know her better before I tell her how I feel…_

_She really is a mystery…but that just makes her more interesting…_

**Author's note **That's the end of chapter 7. I added this chapter mainly to focus SS relationship. Hope you liked it. Please don't forget to leave a review! I'll update the next chapter soon. I think I hear the phone ringing; my best friend must be calling. I'd better go! Bye!

Signing off,

sakura doll!


	8. Eavesdropping

**Author's note: **Remember me? I hope you do coz I'm really sorry for the delay. I meant to post the chapter a week before, but there is a problem in my computer and I'm unable to access NOTE: Becoz of this problem I may not be able to update for a while. I'm at my mom's workplace at the moment, and I can't update till my computer's fixed. The only site I'm able to access is my mail. So please send me a **review **and I'll view it through mail. Sorry for my slow update, hope this problem gets fixed soon. Anyways here's the next chap!

**Chapter 8 **

Two weeks had passed since the arrest and Syaoran was glad that Sakura was back to her usual chirpy self. It was dawn when he entered the palace. Unable to sleep he'd gone training though he had really wanted to meet Sakura, but when he went there a few minutes before she wasn't there which wasn't surprising because he'd never seen her around in the day time.

He turned around the usual corner, down the long, lonely corridor that led to his room. To his amazement, he could hear noises from his usually quiet room and they weren't just noises they were freakishly deafening noises of four familiarly annoying high pitched voices.

Frowning he pushed open the door, and at once all the movement in his room stopped except one. Something small, brown and full of feathers zoomed at him, which he caught skillfully but gently.

"What are you doing in my room?" he demanded glaring at his four maddening sisters, who were staring at him frozen in their positions.

Fuutie was standing on his bed grasping a butterfly net in her hand, Fanran just beside her with her mini make up kit, Sheifa near the window with a piece of ribbon and Feimei near the cage of his bird. Spotting her brother Sheifa straightened herself and explained,

"We were just trying to dress up your pet. We're sure she'd look cute with a little make up," the other sisters nodded in agreement.

"Now listen," Syaoran hissed in a dangerously low tone, "She is a bird not one of your dolls. You girls are twenty, not six year olds. So act your age and SCRAM!" he yelled slamming the door on their faces.

Both Sakura and Syaoran sighed as the Li sisters left. (A/N: Sorry if I made them too evil!)

"They aren't bad," Syaoran muttered, "Their brains just go on a vacation once in a while," he fell back on his back shoving his chestnut bangs out of his eyes.

That evening at sunset, Sakura was skipping along the streets of the busy market place. She was going for a walk up to the cave of the mystic valley. Sure, she hadn't regained her full powers yet and nothing had yet appeared in her mother's diary, but sakura just wanted to see the beautiful flowers again. So she took the familiar path leading to the cave. It was dark when she reached the edge of the forest, she was about to go towards the cave but she heard voices, so changing her mind she slipped behind some trees and decided to wait until they had left.

There were two men, who looked like soldiers, but there was a different symbol on their arm bands. Instead of the Li insignia there was a picture that looked like a serpent. _They're probably soldiers of another kingdom_ she thought _Wonder what they're doing here…_

"Everything's going out as planned sir," said one man.

"Good, I hope your men haven't been spotted by the villagers," said the other man.

"No, so far they haven't. If everything goes well then our men will surround the city by sunset tomorrow,"

"Then tomorrow at sunset we'll attack. They won't suspect a thing. It'll be over before they know it," the man grinned widely showing all his white teeth.

And with that the two men left and Sakura let out a huge breath. She had to tell Syaoran what she'd heard. She ran towards the palace as fast as her feet could carry her.

She managed to sneak inside the place gardens and was about to enter the palace hallways, when she realized that her shoes were very muddy. Of she left prints around then someone might find her. So she quietly removed her shoes, hid them in a bush and than ran into the palace, her small feet moving noiselessly on the soft carpet. She knew where Syaoran's room was and she ran towards the familiar passageway that led to his room. On the way she nearly bumped into two maids but fortunately escaped behind some pillars thankful that Li palace had so many pillars.

"Did you hear something?" one of the maids asked the other.

"No," replied the other whose voice Sakura recognized as the haughty maid who had found her on the floor of Syaoran's bedroom, when she had been hurt.

"Maybe it was a rat," said the first maid.

"Then we'd better send someone to get rid of it, before it goes to the kitchen,"

Her partner nodded and the two of them left.

Sakura came out of hiding once they'd left and shot of to his room. She was about to knock, wondering if he was there, but on hearing footsteps coming down the hallway, she quickly swung open the door and dashed inside, shutting the door softly behind her.

Fortunately there was no one there. For the first time Sakura had come to his room as a girl and thought that it looked different from a girl's view than a bird's. She walked to his big bed and ran her fingers over the soft, warm blanket. It was full of his autumn and sandalwood smell that she suddenly longed to lie down on it for a while. She looked around her, and making sure no one was coming she gently lay down on the bed, burying her head on the pillow.

It was so comfy that Sakura didn't notice the door opening. Someone entered and slammed the door behind them. Sakura shot up on hearing the noise and saw Syaoran standing near the door. He had a cold and hard look in his eyes and his facial expression was unreadable. Sakura suddenly got frightened, seeing the look on his face that she jumped off his bed and knelt down before him, bursting into sobs,

"Oh I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I really am…please forgive I didn't mean to come in here…I really didn't…" she apologized over and over again her face buried in her hands and tears spilling between the gaps of her fingers on to the carpet.

Syaoran stared at her surprised. He had been angry with his mother because she had started the usual talk of his marriage that he had yelled at her and had stormed into his room. He had never expected to see Sakura there. He looked down at her as she continued crying. He knelt down next to her

"Sakura…"

But Sakura paid no heed to what he said and went on rambling, "I'm really sorry…It was just that I liked your smell so much and the bed looked so cozy, oh please don't throw me in that horrible prison cell again…"

"SAKURA!" Syaoran said loudly grabbing her shoulders firmly. "Listen," he went on but in a more gentle tone,

"I'm not going to take you to jail, you silly girl. Who gave you that idea?"

Two fingers parted and a tearful emerald eye looked into his amber ones which were now warm and gentle and much to Syaoran's amazement Sakura suddenly leapt off the ground throwing her on him, forcing him to fall back on the floor.

"Syaoran! You're back," she said gleefully

"What do you mean?" Syaoran asked blushing. She sat up on his lap releasing her hold around his neck and smiled at him.

"When you came in, you looked so different, like how I saw you in the court. Your eyes were all cold and distant and I got scared thinking that the nice Syaoran I know was gone forever,"

Syaoran had to bite the insides of his cheek to prevent himself from bursting into laughter at her childish reply.

"I'm still the same person, you know,"

"Yeah well you looked really scary."

Syaoran stared at her innocent emerald eyes and grinned. She was really an unpredictable girl, sometimes her eyes are full of sorrow, misery and determination and she seems like a woman and yet sometimes she's so innocent and child-like. She suddenly jumped off his lap and sat on the carpet staring at her hands. Syaoran realized that he was blushing.

"Um…what were you saying about my smell?" he asked remembering what she had said earlier.

"Oh, you heard that," she said, her voice clearly stating that she hadn't wanted him to hear it. Syaoran nodded looking curiously.

"Well, everyone has a smell you see. My father smells of sea, my brother smells of new parchment, my second brother had the smell of the fields and my mom smelt of the early spring. And you…..well you smell of autumn and sandalwood. And I like your smell the most," she added the last part softly blushing slightly.

It took Syaoran some time to process her strange explanation. And suddenly he found himself walking towards and he gently buried his head in her silky auburn tresses.

Sakura was very surprised at his actions and she let out an inaudible gasp. She heard him draw in a deep breath and he whispered,

"And you smell of cherry blossoms," Sakura blushed different shades of red on hearing this. He stepped back quickly and clumsily ran a hand through his messy hair, making it even worse.

"I…uh…what was the reason you came here?"

Then Sakura remembered the real reason she had come to see him. She quickly told him everything that she'd overheard. He nodded once she'd finished and handed a piece of parchment to her,

"Do you remember what the symbol on their arm bands looked like?"

Sakura nodded and drew a strange looking symbol with a serpent on the parchment. It was ungainly drawn but Syaoran seemed to recognize the symbol. His face grew stiff for a second but he quickly changed his expression back to normal.

Sakura studied him. She suddenly felt weak in the knees; she had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. She sunk on his bed and mumbled,

"S-sorry, I just felt dizzy,"

"It's ok," he replied as she lay down on his bed and then he sat next to her. He suddenly felt her hand clutch at the back of his shirt, a pair of frightened emerald eyes was gazing at him,

"Syaoran, do you think there might be a…war?" Syaoran noticed that her voice was shaking, but it wasn't the only thing that shook, her whole body was trembling. And he saw that look in her eyes again that look of sorrow and misery. It was obvious that she must have seen a lot of bloodshed recently and didn't want to see it again.

He smiled a little and said consolingly, "Don't worry, it'll be fine. I don't think there's going to be a war,"

That seemed to cheer her up a bit; she smiled back at him and then closed her eyes curling herself like a ball on his bed.

But Syaoran knew that it wasn't going to be as simple as that.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sakura had left a few hours after that and Syaoran had been up all night thinking about his next move. The Northern Kingdom was planning to attack, and he had to handle it alone. He knew that Lord Kenji or his father would never believe it if he told them. He stared at the piece of paper in his hand, wondering what to do next…

**Author's note **Oops! I guess I got carried away. There's way too much fluff in that chapter. I can't believe I wrote that! Anyways I don't know when I'll be able to update next. So I'll give a preview of the next chapter instead.

Next time:

"Oh No! My vision's coming true! I have to save him!

Syaoran!"

Plz check out my other story My pet wolf cub, Chocolate.

Till we meet next time,

Signing off

sakura doll.


	9. Sakura's vision

**Author's note: ** I'm back! Sorry for the delay. My computer's finally back to normal (cheers). And now here's chapter 9! Hope you enjoy reading it. A HUGE THANKS to all my reviewers. Thanks a lot for your support.

Now on with story……

**Chapter 9**

Syaoran sprang up from the bed at the crack of dawn, got dressed before you could bat an eyelid and shot off from his room like a bullet to meet one of his father's trusted soldiers. He had a lot of work to do.

Sakura on the other hand was sleepy all day and she spent the whole day in her tree house. When she came to visit Syaoran later, that evening as a girl, she saw the king strolling in the garden. Fortunately she was hidden behind a cherry tree in the secret garden and wasn't spotted. _I wonder where Syaoran is…_ she had visited him earlier in the afternoon, but his room was empty, his horse wasn't there as well so she had supposed that he'd gone riding.

_But why do I feel as though something bad is going to happen…_

"Your Majesty!" a soldier ran inside the garden, bruised and helping another man, who seemed in an even worse condition.

"What happened?" the king asked anxiously.

"The Northern Kingdom attacked us, sire. The prince knew all about, though I don't know how, but he organized a small army and took us to the forest, where the magical plants grow. And they attacked us all of a sudden. We have managed to hold them off. His highness sent me to get reinforcements"

The king paled and Sakura's heart jumped to her throat

"Where's Syaoran?"

The man shook his head, "I don't know, sir. He told me to get reinforcements if he didn't come back in two hours and here I am"

King Ryu's jaw tightened, "Send a troop of soldiers there right now and take him to the medics"

The man nodded and bowed and left. Sakura's heart which was now were her vocal chord was supposed to be was thumping loudly. Suddenly everything turned blank around her…

Sakura's vision (Sakura's POV)

"What's going on?" I shouted as everything turned black and I found myself standing in the midst of thick trees.

"Tired already prince" came a familiar menacing voice that sent shivers down my spine. I whipped around and saw through the trees, Syaoran standing holding his sword arm with other and blood dripped from between his gloved fingers. And opposite him was that awful man whom I'd heard talking the previous day.

"Don't worry…" Syaoran hissed in a voice I'd never heard him use, "I'm well enough to kill you" he raised his sword in a fighting stance and I saw the deep cut in his arm.

Tears welled up my eyes when I saw that Syaoran…my Syaoran was injured.

The two of them stood glaring at each other when suddenly the man smirked, for one second I noticed his eyes glance at the bushes behind Syaoran. I looked in the direction of his eyes and saw something…metal? It struck me. An arrow! If that man is aiming at what I think he is…then Syaoran will…no, I won't let that happen.

"SYAORAN, BEHIND YOU!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, but no sound escaped my lips. I stared in horror as the arrow flew pierced the air to hit its target.

I was about to run but everything turned black and I fell backwards landing on something soft and green.

End of Sakura's vision

I opened my eyes, sweating. That was just a vision. I got up from the grassy ground. I can't let my vision come true. My heart told me there wasn't much time. But I had to go. I sprinted out of the palace gates as fast as I could towards the forest…to save the man I loved.

End of Sakura's POV

Sakura ran down the streets pushing past the crowds of people. It took nearly most of her energy to reach the forest. She stopped only for a second to catch her breath and then continued to run through the forest. But Sakura was sure that she wouldn't make it. The forest was thick with trees and it was getting dark. It was difficult to see her way. She remembered what her mother had said about her magical powers. Maybe if she was really desperate, then she could summon up her magical powers.

So as she ran, Sakura concentrated hard on her feelings for Syaoran. She thought about how they'd first met and about all the times they spent together and she felt something warm rush through every fiber of her body and suddenly much to her amazement something grew out of her back and lifted her off the ground.

She gave a quick look over her shoulder and spotted a pair of big beautiful milky white wings. Feathers flew in the wind as she glided through the air, the wind rushing through her hair. She decided to fly low so that she wouldn't be spotted by anyone.

Finally she found herself nearing the familiar place she'd seen in her vision. To her horror the arrow was already slicing through the air aiming for its target.

"SYAORAN!" she screamed as she pushed her way through a thorny bush ripping her clothes.

"Watch out!" she flew straight at him pushing him out of the way to safety; she felt the arrow graze her shoulder and yelped. Her magical powers were draining and unfortunately her wings disappeared into a burst of feathers an instant before they rolled off the cliff.

The other two men were startled to see a blurred something hurtle itself at the young prince and over the cliff.

"Sakura!" Syaoran gasped as fell on him. Syaoran felt her clutch tightly at him they rolled down the cliff like a barrel. The two of them, after what seemed like eternity landed on soft grass. Syaoran felt the world spinning around him and then everything came to focus.

"Sakura!" he got up and ran towards the girl who was lying few feet away from him. He raised her gently by her shoulders and shook her.

"Sakura wake up," he whispered. Then suddenly a white feather flew on his knee. So he hadn't been dreaming… Sakura _had_ wings. Was this the magical powers she'd been talking about?

But there was no time to think about that he had to wake her up, make sure she was ok. He shook her again,

"Open your eyes, Sakura," he pleaded. He noticed her torn and shabby clothes and bruises and scratches on her hands. Suddenly as he grasped her shoulder he felt something cold and wet. He looked at his hand and saw something that he'd been dreading to see…blood. She must have been hit by the arrow that was meant to hit him. He thought bitterly.

He shook her again and patted her cheek, but she laid still, her eyes refusing to open and her muscles not moving a centimeter. He felt hot tears in his eyes and he pulled her in to his arms.

"Syao...ran..." came a voice barely a whisper, "are you crying?"

Syaoran pulled her out of his arms and looked at her, her emerald eyes were half open and looked weak but she managed a small smile.

"Sakura…" his voice wouldn't work. He felt a couple of stray tears run down his face. She placed both her hands on his cheeks and whispered,

"Don't cry…I'm fine," she pressed his head against her shoulder. She was fine, he knew it but still a few more tears insisted on falling. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"I'm glad…you're ok," he replied, "I'm so glad…"

"Well," he straightened himself and said brightly,

"First I've got to take care of that wound of yours and then let's get out of here,"

She nodded smiling, "Yeah,"

After about ten minutes when Syaoran had wrapped her wound the two of them decided to climb back up the cliff since it wasn't too high. Syaoran tied a piece of rope around her waist and the other end around his for safety. Then he went up to the edge of the rock face and tugged at one of the ivy plants growing up it. When he decided that it was strong enough he beckoned her to follow him.

They climbed the first few meters with ease as it wasn't too steep. But Sakura started to get tired as she had spent all her energy running through the forest.

"Syaoran!" she called from a few feet below, "I can't do it,"

"Don't worry Sakura, we have only a little more to climb. You'll be fine,"

"But Syaoran…." She stopped as she suddenly lost her footing and screamed. Syaoran quickly tugged at the rope tied to her waist and hoisted her up so she was beside him. He wrapped his arm around her,

"Sakura! Are you ok?" she nodded trembling slightly as her head lolled against his shoulder.

_She's really exhausted. Damn it! I shouldn't have forced her to climb up with me. _ He thought. Unable to keep her eyes open any longer, she slowly shut them allowing sleep to take over her. He could feel her breathing gently against his neck. He heaved her on his shoulder and grabbed the ivy with both his hands. His other hand had been paining partly due his wound (which had been bandaged by Sakura) and mainly because of hanging on to the ivy with just one hand. He swiftly climbed up the rest of the rock face and laid Sakura on the grass. Syaoran stared at the sleeping girl. She looked peaceful and there was a small smile on her face as though she was having a nice dream. He grinned to himself and lifted her bridal style. He took the road that ran parallel to the cliff towards the Allura village. It was better than going through the forest because it wasn't safe yet with the enemy lurking around. He reached there within ten minutes and stopped outside the door of a house at the outskirts of the village. The clock struck twelve as he knocked on the door.

The door was opened by a young woman a few years older than him with long raven hair and twinkling amethyst eyes,

"Prince!" she exclaimed on seeing him and then gasped on seeing Sakura in his arms.

"Who's at the door at this time of the night?" came another voice and blue haired man with azure eyes came and stood next to his wife.

"Syaoran," he said with a nod as he spotted his childhood friend.

"I need a favor from you Eriol," Syaoran asked motioning to the unconscious girl in his arms.

Eriol nodded and let them into the house. "Take her upstairs to the first room on the right. I'll come and attend to her wounds."

Syaoran did as he was told; he laid her on the bed and went back downstairs. Eriol put some pink liquid on his wound and bandaged it up. His arm burnt for an instant and then he felt it heal.

"That's an extract from one of the magical plants that grows around the cave leading to the mythical valley of the butterflies," he explained gathering some more bandages and going upstairs.

Syaoran sat on a chair in front of the fireplace. Tomoyo placed a cup of tea in front of him. "You seem really worried about her," she commented. Syaoran nodded, taking a sip of tea. She gave him an encouraging smile,

"Don't worry, Eriol will take care of her," she had a strange twinkle in her amethyst eyes.

Meanwhile upstairs

Sakura's eye flickered open. She was lying on a bed, in a room and her whole body was aching terribly. She turned her head to the side and spotted a blue haired man bandaging the wounds on her arm. She let a tiny shriek and jerked away. The man smiled warmly,

"Don't be afraid. Syaoran brought you here. I'm his friend. I'm Eriol Hiragizawa. I'm a doctor, you see. And I specialize in magical plants. That's why Syaoran brought you here so I could heal your wounds. You're lucky they're only flesh wounds. They'll probably heal within a day."

Sakura was a little startled at this sudden speech. She was about to say something when the door creaked open. Sakura saw a young woman with long dark hair and lilac eyes enter the room. On seeing her, the woman said, "Oh! You're awake!"

The man named Eriol spoke again, "And this is my wife Tomoyo," Sakura gave her a small smile and to her surprise the woman suddenly ran towards her and grabbed her hands,

"You're so cute! You'd make a perfect wife for our prince!" she squealed in a voice that reminded her of the Li sisters.

"What!" Sakura squeaked blushing a bright shade of red.

"Tell me, what's your name?"

"Sakura" she replied in a small voice. Before Tomoyo could say anything more Eriol placed a hand on her shoulder and said,

"Why don't you tell Syaoran that she's awake? I'm sure he'd be glad to know," Tomoyo looked disappointed but left anyway. When she had gone Eriol turned to Sakura,

"You love him don't you?"

Sakura blushed again and nodded, "I…do,"

"Did you tell him?" he asked softly.

"No, I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because he's a prince and I'm just a…" she stopped. She'd been away from her home for so long that she'd forgotten that she was a princess. Maybe if she freed her family and herself of the curse there might be a little hope. _Like hell there would _she thought bitterly remembering the king's reaction when the subject of her family had been brought up. _He hates my family. Syaoran and I can never be together……_

"It'll be fine," Eriol voice interrupted her thoughts. The door suddenly burst open and there stood Syaoran worry written all over his face. He ran up to bed and knelt down beside it,

"Are you alright Sakura?"

She nodded quickly wiping away the tears that had sprung up to her eyes. Eriol and Tomoyo left shutting the door to give them sometime alone. Syaoran noticed her wipe her tears and asked anxiously,

"What's wrong Sakura?"

"Nothing," she replied with a forced smile, "I'm really ok Syaoran," Syaoran sat on a chair beside her and said,

"You stay here tonight. I'll pick you up tomorrow evening. Eriol and Tomoyo are going to one of their friends' place for a ball or something. They'll leave at two in the morning and be back only tomorrow evening. You'll be alone till then,"

Sakura relaxed knowing that her secret was still going to be safe but a sudden thought struck her,

"what about you?" she asked in a panicky voice afraid of what his answer might be. "You're not going back into the war front are you?" But the look in his eyes confirmed her answer. She suddenly leaned over and clutched at his shoulders,

"Syaoran, you can't," she said choking back a sob.

Syaoran smiled softly and replied, "But I have to Saku. I am the prince after all; I need to defend my country."

Sakura nodded. That's exactly what Touya had said before he'd left for war too so she made a brave effort to stop her tears and gave him a small kiss on the cheek whispering,

"Be careful,"

She slumped back on the bed, the faintest stain of red lingering on her cheeks. He leaned over tucking few of her stray auburn strands behind her ear and replied

"I will. I'll pick you up tomorrow. Take care of yourself Sakura,"

And with one final smile he exited the room leaving Sakura to her thoughts.

**Author's note; **Well that's the end of this chapter. I'll try to update a bit more faster and for those who are reading my other story, 'My pet wolf cub, Chocolate' I'm going to post the next chapter by tomorrow morning at the latest.

Signing off,

sakura doll


	10. The second flower

**Author's note: **I'm back! I know you guys are gonna kill me for this long delay. But I'm really sorry! I got held up with my exams and school work. But I'll try my best to post the next chapter sooner.

Well enough of my rambling. On with chapter 10!

**Chapter 10**

Sakura sat in her bed lost in thoughts. The door creaked open and Tomoyo entered carrying a tray of food.

"Here, your dinner," she said placing it on the table and sitting on a chair near the bed.

"Thanks," Sakura managed a smile.

"You're worried about him, right?"

Sakura blushed but nodded.

"Don't worry. Have faith in him. I'm sure he'll be fine." Sakura ate her dinner in silence and Tomoyo stood up taking the empty tray from her.

"Eriol and I are going to the next town to attend a ball. We were planning to spend the night at his friend's and return tomorrow evening but if you might feel lonely…" Tomoyo said.

"No! I'll be fine. I mean I don't mind being alone," Sakura said hurriedly hoping and praying that Tomoyo would agree and fortunately,

"O-okay," she replied uncertainly. "We'll be leaving in few hours. I'll lock the door, there's a spare key in the shelf behind the door. You can use it if you want,"

"Thank you uh…Mrs. Hiragizawa,"

"Just call me Tomoyo. From now on you and I are friends." Tomoyo said warmly

"Bye Tomoyo,"

"Good night Sakura," Tomoyo left shutting the door after her. Sakura slumped back onto the bed pulling the blanket up to her chin.

_Good night Syaoran…I…love you._

The next day Sakura woke up at the break of dawn. Sunrays flooded into the room compelling her to transform into a nightingale.

The rest of the day went uneventful, because Sakura had spent most of her time sleeping. That evening almost a microsecond after she'd transformed she heard the door knock.

"I'm coming!" she called rushing downstairs. She opened the door and allowed the tired couple to enter the house.

"Sakura, you aren't ready yet?" Tomoyo squealed suddenly.

"For what?" the emerald eyed girl asked bewildered.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Because _he's _coming," she said sounding as if the answer was obvious.

"Who is?" Sakura asked still confused.

"Syaoran's coming today," Eriol informed.

Sakura blushed and stammered, "S-so what?"

"You have to look your best. Go take a bath, quick. I'll get some nice clothes and place them in your room. Call me when you're done and I'll do your hair," Tomoyo instructed shoving poor Sakura into the bathroom.

In about twenty minutes Sakura was in her room admiring the dress that Tomoyo had given her. It was a pretty white frock with pink flowers all over it and a big pink bow in the waist.

Tomoyo bustled into the room with a hair brush and began combing her shoulder length auburn locks.

"Tomoyo!" Eriol's voice rang out. "He's here!"

"Oh dear, why did he have to come so early?" Tomoyo gave Sakura a wink, "Maybe he couldn't wait to see his precious cherry blossom"

Sakura turned red stammering, "To-moyo!"

"Well, put your hair in a low ponytail with this," she ordered flinging a pink satin ribbon at her. And with that she rushed out of the room, downstairs to make something for her guest.

"Come on in, Syaoran," Eriol welcomed him in.

Syaoran stepped in, his eyes flickering over Eriol's shoulder hoping to see _her. _

"She's upstairs," a sly smirk appeared on Eriol's lips.

"I wasn't looking for Sakura," Syaoran blurted.

"Who said anything about Sakura?" he asked innocently making Syaoran glare at him. Tomoyo came down almost jumping down two stairs at a time. She noticed Syaoran and smiled,

"Hello Syaoran. Don't worry, Sakura will be coming in a minute. Why don't you sit and make yourself comfortable? I'll get some tea," And with that rushed speech she quickly went into the kitchen.

Syaoran sat on the couch glancing around off and on wondering where Sakura was. Eriol noticed this which caused his smirk to widen further. Syaoran decided that it was best not to look at his eye because he couldn't stand that seeing smug smile on Eriol's lips.

"You love her don't you?" Eriol suddenly asked.

Syaoran, apparently startled by this question, nodded, unable to think of any excuses.

"Have you told her?"

"No"

"When do you…….." Eriol stopped as his wife entered the room carrying a tray of tea and cakes.

"Help yourself," she said placing the tray on the table. "Hasn't Sakura come down yet?" Both the men shook their heads.

"Sakura!" Tomoyo called, "Are you done yet? Do you need my help?"

"No thank you," a small voice came following which Sakura shyly stepped down the stairs. She smiled softly on seeing Syaoran, "H-hi"

"How are you Sakura?" he asked anxiousness creeping in his voice.

"Great," she replied enthusiastically, "My wounds healed by morning. You're an awesome doctor Eriol. Thank you." She said turning towards the blue haired man.

"Glad to be of help," Eriol replied genially.

"We'd better get going Sakura. I told my parents that I'd come home early,"

Sakura nodded, "Sure," she looked at the couple,

"Thanks again for everything Tomoyo, Eriol." Tomoyo hugged her saying, "I'm really glad I met you. I hope we meet again,"

Eriol grasped Syaoran's hand in a brief handshake whispering, "Tell her soon. The next time we meet it should be in a wedding,"

Syaoran blushed but nodded. He helped Sakura on the horse and sat behind her. He took hold of the horse's reins and tugged it. Sakura waved goodbye to the two over Syaoran's shoulder as they rode of back to the forest of the mystical valley.

"Hey Syaoran," Sakura asked breaking the silence between them.

"Hmm?"

"The war? Is it over? I thought war's go on for months together maybe even years,"

"I'd hardly call it a war. You're right; wars do go on for months together. The Northern kingdom is very small compared to ours. I suppose they never expected their plan to backfire. It's all thanks to you Sakura," Syaoran smiled warmly at her.

Sakura blushed and asked, "Why would they want to wage a war?"

Syaoran thought for a bit and said, "The Northern Kingdom was once a part of ours but for some religious reason the people living in the north began demanding a land of their own. When the revolution began getting out of hand, my grandfather, who was ruling at that time decided to give them a part of the land to avoid chaos in the rest of the kingdom. They always wanted to capture the forest with the magical herbs"

"Oh," Sakura said unable to think of anything else to say. Sakura realized that they were in the forest already. To her horror there were dead bodies and bloodshed everywhere. Syaoran felt her stiffen against his shoulder.

"My father's sending some men to bury the bodies," Syaoran mumbled. Sakura felt tears stinging her eyes as she remembered what had happened in her home but she refused to let them fall. She wasn't a crybaby. She had to be strong. People crying and wailing over the loss of their family and friends….streets scattered with dead bodies and blood….

She involuntarily shuddered at the sight of blood. Syaoran felt her clutch his shirt tightly and she closed her eyes and leaned against him looking a little pale and sick. Syaoran patted the back of head muttering "You ok?" She stiffly nodded her head not daring to open her eyes. The smell of blood mixed with mud made her want to puke. She

By the time they reached the palace Sakura had fallen asleep. He carried her to her tree house and gently placed her on the bed.

"Good night Sakura," he muttered under his breath and walked back to the palace.

The days sped by and soon one month had passed since the war had happened. Sakura woke up that morning, a few hours before dawn as usual to find her mother's diary glowing brightly. She eagerly turned it open and to her enormous surprise, she found words appearing in the diary. _Finally! I can finally find the next flower..._ she thought happily as she turned the pages of the diary.

_Continuous as the stars they shine_

_And twinkle on the Milky Way……_

_Ten thousand I saw at a glance_

_Tossing their heads in a sprightly dance……_

_And then my heart with pleasure fills_

_And dances with the……………_

The last word of the poem was missing but Sakura knew what flower it was. Because those were the lines from her favorite poem that Hiroshi had once read to her. The flower whose name rhymed with fills, the answer was simple. _Daffodils. _

This time Sakura decided not to wait till the evening. She fluttered off towards the mystical valley as a bird. She made it to the mystical valley in no time at all. She flew through the huge gates of the mystical valley and what a sight she saw! The valley was quite different from what she had seen before. It was filled with beautiful butterflies of all colors ocher, jade, cyan, turquoise, gold and so many other wonderful colors she couldn't describe.

_Now I know why this place is called the mystical valley of butterflies. What a beautiful sight! Someday…just someday I'll bring Syaoran here…_ _and my family …_ she thought happily.

She then decided to focus on her task at hand. Within a few minutes she managed to find a field of daffodils and like she had done before she closed her eyes and concentrated hard. She felt a strange power from one of the flowers and she plucked it gently with her beak. Almost immediately she felt immensely tired as though all her energy had been drained out.

_Well at least this means that I'm right…_ she contemplated remembering what her mother had said about her magical energy being used up every time when she found a flower. She settled comfortably under a shady cherry blossom tree and within minutes fell asleep. When she woke up the sun was already at the west and the distant gong of the bell in the town informed her that it was six already. Sakura let out a squawk realizing that she'd been asleep for nearly 5 hours and the sun would set soon.

Hurriedly she flew out of the valley carrying the flower firmly between her claws. She flew slowly but steadily through the nearly empty streets of the town. It was almost dusk and Sakura noticed that the streets were unusually empty. She was too tired to bother so she just flew towards the palace hoping to have a good rest. Suddenly she heard a loud screech above her. She raised her head and squeaked in surprise when she saw a hawk soaring towards her ready to take her as its prey.

With a desperate twitter of anxiety, she flew as fast she could to escape the clutches of the hawk. In her fear she did not notice that she had flown across the palace and right into the forest to the other side of the palace where she'd first met Syaoran (A/n: If you don't remember, refer chapter 2). After flying for sometime, Sakura began to feel very tired and the hawk didn't seem to be giving up. She was too scared to notice the time, and before she knew it, the sun dipped into the horizon causing her to transform into a girl.

The hawk got scared and flew off. Knowing that from this altitude, she would definitely die if she hit the ground. Frantically she screamed,

"SYAORAN!" as her body plummeted to the ground with increasing velocity…

Syaoran looked sulky. His mother had wanted to have a 'family' tea out in the garden and he was feeling bored, not to mention irritated too because his sisters were in a sugary mood. They had come to a conclusion that their 'little bro' was definitely in love with someone and they were trying to find out who it was. They were talking in hushed voices so as to not let their mother hear, planning something out. Finally his father came and the tea was served. Surprisingly his mother didn't speak about his marriage and glanced at him a little too often with a knowing look on her face. Syaoran couldn't put a finger on it so he just brushed the thought off.

Just when the tea was finished, Syaoran leaned back on his chair hoping to see Sakura soon. No sooner than he had wished, he heard a faint voice calling out his name. It seemed to come from inside him. Suddenly he had a bad feeling. He placed a hand over his heart and found his heartbeat increasing rapidly. He stood up abruptly and excused himself,

"I have to go, mother. It's really important" and without another word he dashed to the stables and brought out his horse, Clover.

_Why do I have a feeling that Sakura is in danger? I have to help her. I don't know how, but I'm sure I know where to find her. Please be alright Sakura, I'm coming. _He thought as he mounted Clover and shot off into the woods behind the palace.

He rode as fast as he could and finally he spotted Sakura. She was falling from the sky. Panic rushed through his body as he rode faster trying to get to her in time to catch her. She was falling faster and faster, he knew he wouldn't be able to catch her at this rate. Without even thinking he dove from his horse yelling out her name and caught her just in time. He flipped around so that his body hit the ground with Sakura on top of him and the two of them rolled on the ground and finally stopped.

Syaoran was lying on his back panting, "Are…you…alright?"

But Sakura didn't answer, she was crying, her face buried in his chest holding the front if his shirt as if she was afraid he'd disappear. With a little difficulty he got up, with Sakura sitting on his lap still shaking from her experience. He gently held her shoulders, trying to calm her down.

"I was so scared, Syaoran, I thought I'd definitely die." She whispered looking up at him, her emerald eyes wide with fear and her face was deathly pale.

Syaoran smiled softly, "I'll never let you die" he assured.

She blushed happily then looked worried again, "Are you ok, Syaoran? You must have hit the ground pretty hard."

Syaoran groaned and rubbed his back, "Just a sore back. But don't worry, I'll live. I promise" he said, jokingly, hoping to cheer her up.

She gave him a watery smile, "I can give you some herbs cure your pain if you want" she suggested, "After all it's my fault, isn't it?"

"Sure and don't blame yourself, I promised myself that I'll protect you no matter what and I'm just doing that" he said.

Sakura beamed happily and cried, "You're the sweetest person in the whole world, Syaoran" Syaoran turned million shades of red and looked away. "Come on let's go" he mumbled and tried to get up.

Sakura noticed that she was still sitting on his lap and jumped off blushing furiously, "Sorry"

"No problem" he held his hand out to help her up and the two of them walked towards Clover.

Syaoran wanted to ask her how she was falling from mid air but decided against it, feeling sure she wouldn't want him to know. So he convinced himself into thinking that she probably fell from a tree considering the fact that there was a huge oak tree next to the place she had fallen from.

"I'm sorry to cause you trouble again, Syaoran. I'm always being a bother to you." Sakura said sadly as they rode slowly.

"That's not true and you know it," Syaoran protested, "You're a brave and sweet girl. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here talking to you." He said reminding her of the time she saved his life.

"You're just saying that," Sakura replied with a sigh, "I know I'm nothing but a weak girl who can't even stand on her own two feet. I always need you around protecting me."

"You're not weak, Sakura," Syaoran said a little sternly, "Your just pushing yourself too hard. I know something bad has happened in your past and it's alright if you don't want to talk about it but you really should have more faith in yourself. You have been through so much and you can't give up now. And besides…" Syaoran smiled, "I'm happy protecting you."

Sakura blushed a little at what he said and smiled back, "Guess you're right Syao. I'm not worry too much of what's going to happen but concentrate on the present. I know I can pull through with this uh…mission right?"

Syaoran nodded glad to see that she was back to her cheerful self. She got off the horse and bowed, "thanks again Syaoran. I'll see you tomorrow," And she left toward the secret garden after waving him goodbye.

_Someday _Syaoran thought as he walked back to his family _I'll tell you, I'll tell you how I really feel about you Sakura…_

**Author's note; **That chapter was lame, I know. But don't worry things are going to heat up in the next chapter. And meanwhile you guys don't forget to leave me a review. And no flames please!

Signing off

sakura doll

PS: those lines are from 'The daffodils' by William Wordsworth.


	11. confession, proposal, refusal

**Author's notes:- ** Hey ppl! Sorry about the delay. Got caught up with schoolwork. Our teachers are such slave drivers! We've never had a break from exams and tomorrow we've got Chemistry!

Anyways, this chapter is kinda short but it's filled with SxS moments and that should make up for the shortness. Hope you 'n' joy it!

**Chapter 11**

"Not again!" Syaoran's voice rang out from the dining room and following it a clatter of plates was heard as he furiously banged his fists against the table. "I've told you a million times now, I'm not getting married to some no good cranky princess just because you say so and that's final!" And with those words he stormed out the dining room without waiting for his parents' reply.

Syaoran slammed the door of his room shut and sunk on his bed. Sakura, who was sitting on the bedside table, let out a squawk of surprise at the sudden noise. Syaoran sighed as he stared at the ceiling. Sakura hopped on the bed next to him wondering what was bothering him.

The prince suddenly raised a hand and stroked the feathers on her head and muttered,

"Sorry if I scared you. Why do they always have to force me into marrying someone I don't even know? If they'd asked me this question few months ago, then maybe due to the pressure I may have even consented but now I'm all the more determined not to. Because…" his voice dropped lower, "I love her…"

Sakura's heart stopped beating when she heard this. She started feeling numb all over. _Was he talking about her? Does this mean he loves me?_

Syaoran sat up and ran his hand through his chestnut hair mumbling something incomprehensible and Sakura was too dazed to try and hear what it was.

_Now Sakura don't jump to conclusions. _She thought to herself firmly. _For all you know he maybe talking about someone else…_ though she secretly wished it was her.

Someone knocked the door startling both Sakura and Syaoran out of their wits. "Come in" Syaoran called. The door opened and the queen stepped in majestically. Syaoran jumped to his feet on seeing his mother and bowed slightly.

"You came to see me mother?" he asked in his politest manner even though he was feeling frustrated at his mother.

"No need for the formalities, Xiao Lang." his mother replied giving him a small smile. _Xiao Lang. _his Chinese name. His mother hardly ever used it unless she had to say something very important. Syaoran groaned inwardly. He knew what was coming next.

And just as he expected, "It's about your marriage Syaoran."

"But mother…" he began to protest but Yelan silenced him with a look.

"Hear me out Xiao Lang. and then tell me what you want to say. First of all it's been a tradition in Li family for generations that the prince must get married before he's seventeen."

"But my birthday is six months away!"

"_Only_ six months." His mother corrected, "That isn't much time. I'll give you two weeks time. Find a girl, princess or peasant I don't care. But the decision is yours. You can choose the girl you want to marry. But if you cannot find the right person within two weeks then we'll announce your engagement with Princess Maya of the Telurian Kingdom."

"Not her!" Syaoran wailed thinking of the blond haired spoiled brat who always clung onto him, fussing about a broken nail.

"Listen, mother, All my life I've been doing everything you asked me to, because I wanted to please you, for you to be proud of me. But this time I can't agree, I don't want to marry someone I don't even like."

"Calm down son. I understand and that's why I've come to this decision. This is your life and I want you to be able to decide whom you want to marry which is why I'm leaving you an option. Find a bride and I'll convince you're father,"

"So you're saying that it doesn't matter if she isn't a princess?" Syaoran asked eagerly at once thinking of Sakura.

"I believe I said that. Why son? Have you found the girl you love?" Yelan asked looking at her son with a strange glint in her dark eyes.

Syaoran flushed and stammered "Y—I mean no mother,"

"Very well. I'll be leaving then," the queen said a little pompously and swept out of the room.

Once in the corridor she chuckled on hearing her son cheer happily. _Well, I never thought I'd be seeing the day Syaoran would fall in love._

Sakura, on the other hand flew out of the window to the tree house in the secret garden. She really wanted to know what the queen was going to say to Syaoran because she felt sure it was something concerning his marriage. But she felt she'd been listening to too much of the private conversation in the Li household.

She flipped open her mother's diary where she'd kept the two flowers. Surprisingly enough they hadn't withered the slightest. _Obviously _she thought _they're magic flowers. They shouldn't whither._ However she was slightly disappointed, she really had wanted to find the third flower. But then again the sooner she found the flowers the sooner she had to leave back home and that meant that she wouldn't be able to see Syaoran anymore.

_Syaoran…_the thought of him made her heart pound. What would happen when she'd found all the flowers? Will she ever be able to see him again? Sakura sighed, her heart feeling heavy. She knew that neither her father nor Syaoran's father would agree to their marriage that is if he loved her. Kings are so stupid. They fight for the dumbest reasons ever.

Sakura lay down using the diary as her pillow or rather her bed considering how small she was. She sure was sleeping a lot lately but she felt so tired all the time. Finding all these flowers was draining her energy. _A lot._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Syaoran on the other hand was restless during lunchtime. He kept fidgeting with his fingers and knocking his knees together nervously which irritated his parents.

"Syaoran why are you so fidgety?" his father asked him.

Syaoran at once stopped moving his knees and his fingers.

"Sorry." He apologized unable to think of any excuse.

Fortunately for him the topic was dropped right there as lunch carried on. As Syaoran walked down the corridor after lunch he wondered how he should tell her. What would she say? Would she reciprocate his feelings? Would she reject him? All these questions pounded Syaoran's mind. A loud giggle erupted from somewhere behind him interrupting his thoughts.

The four Li sisters surrounded their brother squealing and shrieking with laughter.

"Little Syao's going to profess his love to the girl who stole his heart!"

"When did you grow up, little bro?"

"I never thought you had a romantic bone in your body!"

"Is your girlfriend super kawaii?"

"Just leave me alone!" Syaoran broke from the grasp of his sisters and shot into his room slamming the door. He growled as he heard one of them some say,

"Did you see how red his face was? He was _actually _blushing."

The evening came before Syaoran knew it and he found himself walking down to the secret garden clutching a box in his pocket. Fortunately his parents were in an important meeting and his meddling sisters had gone shopping.

Sakura was already there standing underneath her favorite cherry blossom tree. Syaoran took a deep breath and stood next to her.

"It's beautiful isn't it?"

"Yeah" she replied acknowledging his presence but neither of them knew whether he meant the cherry blossom petals floating in the wind or her.

_There's no use stalling Syaoran. I'd have to tell her quickly. _Syaoran thought.

"Um Sakura there's something I need to tell you,"

"What is it?" she asked turning around and keeping her gaze fixed on him.

Syaoran stared at the ground for a minute before looking determinedly into her emerald eyes and he said,

"Well, I…I uh… love you Sakura,"

Sakura's eyes widened but she felt as though somewhere deep down in her heart she expected this. But what he did next she never expected,

He slid a finger under her chin and gently kissed her. Sakura froze in shock. He quickly broke off stammering an apology.

The two of them stood staring at the ground between them which suddenly seemed interesting. The tension in the air was so thick; you could cut it with a knife. Syaoran let out a long held sigh knowing that if he didn't do it now it would be too late.

"Will you marry me?" he asked suddenly going down on one knee clasping her hand in his.

"I know this is sudden and I don't know you much, but what I do know is that you're a great person Sakura and my heart tells me what I'm doing is right." He explained a faint red tint lingering on his cheek.

Sakura felt tears sting her eyes. She turned around facing her back to him and whispered,

"I…can't"

Syaoran felt something heavy drop in his heart. "So you don't like me huh? Well I understand…" he began muttering still not getting up from his position but was cut off as Sakura burst out,

"No that's not it!" she flung herself into his arms burying her head against his sturdy shoulder. He swayed as she fell against him but kept his balance. He gently wrapped his strong arms around her body which was violently shaking due to her sobs.

"I love you. I really really do. I love you more than any one else in this world." She pulled away and stared at him with tear filled emerald eyes.

"But we can't get married, at least not now. Remember that mission thing I keep telling you about? Well I can't get married until I complete it." Tears kept flowing from her closed eyes and she didn't even make an attempt to stop them.

"That's ok." Syaoran said soothingly. "My mother has given me two weeks time. I'm sure you can finish the task that you have to."

Sakura shook her head and stood up, "But two weeks isn't enough Syaoran. We can never be together!" she shrieked thinking of his father's reaction abut her family.

"Don't say that. I have faith in you. I'm sure you can complete it if you try."

"But you don't even know me…"

"I don't care!" Syaoran replied fiercely, "I don't care whether you're a peasant or even the princess of the Kinomoto kingdom."

Sakura stifled a gasp and bent down so that her bangs covered her eyes. _You don't know how right you are…_

"I still want to marry you because I love you Sakura. You're the only one who can make me happy and cheer me up even in the dullest moments."

Sakura looked back at him, "For how long have you…?" she couldn't complete her question but Syaoran understood what she wanted to know.

He smiled slightly, "I don't know. And I don't think it matters to me." He paused, "All my life I've been following orders." Sakura raised an eyebrow questioningly as he continued,

"…doing what my parents told me, what the elders told me to do. Training… hard…and learning to be a good king. My life was clockwork. Run by someone else. But all that changed when you came. You brightened my life and made me feel emotions that I never felt before. Happiness, joy and ….love. Your kindness and innocence broke through the barrier I had created around my heart. You tore the mask that I wore and helped become back the real me hiding behind it. For the first time in my life I want to make my own decisions. I want to marry you. I want to protect you and be with you for the rest of my life. I really believe in you, Sakura. I know you can do this."

"I'll do my best. If it means keeping you happy then I'll definitely try." She smiled at him a small one but genuine.

"I'm sorry if I sounded too dramatic." He sighed.

Sakura shook her head, "I'm glad that opened up to me Syaoran."

He walked up to her and slipped a box in the palm of her hand. "I want you to keep it till you complete what you have to." Sakura nodded and left muttering a soft goodbye.

Syaoran stared at her retreating back and thought to himself. _I'll wait for you Sakura even if you don't finish it within two weeks. _

_I'll wait for you forever…_

Sakura flung herself on her mattress sobbing. _How am I ever going to find the last two flowers within two weeks? It took me three months to find the second flower. What am I going to do? God help me…_

Sakura wiped her tears and opened the box that Syaoran had given her. It contained a dainty gold ring with two tiny diamond studs in the middle. Next to it was a piece of paper shaped like a cherry blossom only a bit bigger. Looking closely Sakura read

_To my most precious cherry blossom_

_With all my love_

_Li Syaoran._

Sakura clutched the ring and the paper close to her heart. I_ can do it. I will do it for Syaoran…_

**Author's notes:- **Well that's it. It's very short I know, so sorry.

About my other story, **My pet wolf cub, Chocolate, **actually I'm suffering from a serious writer's block and I have no clue what to do. I don't want it to get boring so if you have any suggestions, please tell me. Meanwhile I'd like you all to tell me what you think about this chapter.

This is sakura doll signing off!

See ya!


	12. The third flower

**Author's note** It's me again. With the next chapter of your all time favorite story From Sunrise to Sunset (It is isn't it?) Anyways I've finally update "My pet wolf cub, Chocolate" And I haven't received many reviews at all. You're so mean! –sobs-.

So please review ok?-sniffs- It took a lot out of me to get over the writers block.

Anyway-cheers up- here's the long awaited chapter 12! 'N'joy ppl!

**Chapter 12:**

Sakura watched silently as the majestic sun disappeared behind the horizon and the sky turned slowly from red orange to pale blue. The moon was peeping from behind the clouds welcoming the night. The memories of the previous day flooded into her mind.

_I…I uh…I love you Sakura!_

………

_I don't care whether you're a peasant or even the princess of the Kinomoto kingdom!_

……

_I still want to marry you because you're the only one who can make happy!_

Sakura shook her head as though trying to temporarily erase those memories. What was wrong with her? Wasn't this what she really wanted? Then why did it feel so painful? Sakura sighed. Was there any hope of finding the two flowers within two weeks? It had taken her two whole months to find the second flower.

She slid her hand into her pocket and withdrew the ring that Syaoran had given her. What about her family? Will they agree to this? She wondered.

_Mom, dad, Hiroshi, Touya………It's been such long time since I saw you. I really miss you._

A tear slipped from her eye as she tried to sort out her mixed feelings. She leaned her back against the trunk of a nearby tree and closed her eyes. She heard a rustle of leaves behind her and quickly spun around, her eyes looking frantically for the intruder.

And then she saw _him._

He stood there staring at her. Sakura took one look at him and ran away as fast as her legs could carry her. She didn't know why but she couldn't face him, not now. Not until she'd sorted out her feelings.

"Sakura!" his voice called after her. But it only made her run faster hoping he wouldn't follow her which he fortunately didn't.

Syaoran stared at her disappearing back. _Why did she run away? Maybe she doesn't want to marry me…_he thought with a sinking feeling in his heart.

The next day was dull for both Sakura and Syaoran. Syaoran refused to come out of his room even during meal times. His mother tried to get him to come out be Syaoran told his mother that he needed some time alone.

As for Sakura, well a whole day had passed and she had only thirteen days more to find the last two flowers. Again at dusk she found herself standing under the same cherry blossom tree as before staring at the sky.

He came there too. She was about to runaway again but,

"Sakura wait. I…we need to talk," there was firmness in his tone that made her stop.

"About what?" she asked softly.

"Listen…its ok if…if" he took a deep breath and went on, "you don't want to marry me. You can tell me. But please don't ignore me. That hurts even more." He felt his voice crack at this point and Sakura felt her heart break for hurting him.

She walked up to him, her eyes fixed on his face but he was looking at the ground and Sakura could see all the pain and hurt in his eyes. She gently placed her hand on his cheek. He winced slightly but turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry Syaoran. I didn't mean to ignore you. It's just I had so much on my mind and I… honestly don't know what made me run away from you like that."

Syaoran smiled understandingly and took her hand in his. "I understand how you feel. But please don't push yourself too hard. Every thing is going to be just fine. I know it."

Sakura felt a little cheered up seeing him smile again, "Yes, it will be,"

_I hope…_she added to herself.

The next day much to Sakura's delight, her mother's dairy was glowing. _Finally a step closer to my dream. _She thought eagerly flipping open the book with her book with a slight difficulty though. She glanced at the words and her face fell with disappointment,

**Tra ehru oyfo yti rupehtt neser peri**

Sakura couldn't make head or tail of it. It wasn't Japanese or Chinese. And it definitely wasn't English. She let out slow squeak unhappily and decided to fly to the palace. She needed time to figure this one out.

She flew in through the prince's window. Syaoran who was busy training didn't notice her. He swung his sword gracefully slicing the air and a bit of the bed sheet too. Sweat was dripping from his chestnut bangs and his eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. Sighing he placed the sword on the sword on his table and went to the bathroom to take a bath. Sakura was staring at the sword in awe. It was shiny as though it had never been used and the symbol of the Li kingdom was engraved in gold on the hilt of the sword.

"Like it?" a voice came behind her and she saw Syaoran's reflection on the sword.

He picked up the sword and stared at it. "It's a family heirloom. It's been passed down in our family for generations now,"

Sakura flew to his shoulder and looked at the glistening weapon. Then she noticed something that made her heart thump.

When he had entered she had noticed Chinese writing on the front of shirt. But in the reflection the letters were reversed.

Maybe…just maybe…this was the answer she was looking for!

She was dying to find out at that very instant, but she decided that it would be easier if she were a girl. So she had to wait till sunset. She glanced at the sun shining brightly in the sky and sighed. It was going to be a long wait.

Sakura had never spent a drearier day in her life. Every second seemed like hours to her. Finally, though the moment arrived when it was time for sun to disappear behind the horizon and the moon to make its majestic appearance in the starlit sky.

Sakura fetched the diary and the two flowers in it before leaving to the mystic valley. It was a bright evening and Sakura walked past the market place where the shops were just closing down, the street lamps being lit. The cool wind swept past brushing against her hair and her dress.

Within no time she was at the mystic valley staring her reflection in the pond. It was dark but she had her faithful lantern and besides it wasn't yet completely dark. She flipped open her mother's diary at stared at its reflection. The words still made no sense. She groaned loudly in disappointment and fell back on the grassy meadow.

She lay staring on the moon, her hopes carried away by the wind. So this was all a mistake. What a waste of time!

She pushed the bangs out of her eyes and closed them.

"So they weren't reversed but what now?" she asked aloud to herself. She racked her brains to think of the ways of decoding a message from what, her brother Hiroshi had taught her.

_Flashback_

"_What are you reading, Hiro?" asked a ten-year-old Sakura, to her brother. Hiroshi shut the book and held it out to her,_

"_Secret codes" she read out loud from the cover of the book and looked up at him questioningly. He smiled and said,_

"_It's very useful, if you want to send messages to people so that enemies cannot interpret it"_

"_How do you write a secret code? And how do we know that the enemies can't read it?"_

"_Good question. This book is pretty ancient and has been in the family for ages. See how old the pages are? And it gives different ways of writing codes."_

_He continued, "for example, the easiest way is write everything in reverse, just like in a mirror…"_

"_So if you held it in front of mirror you can read what's written! So cool" exclaimed Sakura. "What are the other ways?"_

"_Well sometimes you can use numbers instead of letters. Like 1 representing A, 2 for B and so on. The same thing can be done for Japanese characters too."_

"_If you want to make it difficult, then you can write riddles or puzzles, other simpler methods are writing backwards. This is different from a mirror. You have to read the word from back to front; sometimes the splitting of words would vary in order to confuse you" _

_Hiro showed her an example from the book he was reading…_

_End of flashback_

"That's it" she said out loud, snapping her fingers, triumphantly. She grabbed her mother's diary and pored over it, hopefully.

_Tra ehru oyfo yti rupehtt neser peri _

If she read it back wards it would read

_Irep resen tthepur ity ofyo urhe tra.._

If I spaced the words correctly then………

_I represent the purity of your heart. _ Finally she was getting somewhere. She looked up and the first thing that caught her eyes was the lilies floating in the water. That must be it! The third flower. Quick as lightening she waded into the water not caring for the fact that her skirt was getting soaked. Water lily represents the purity of a person's heart. She had no difficulty in finding the flower and soon she was out of the water lying on the grass panting slightly. (**A/N: **-sweatdrop- I guess I'm not good at riddles. I got that idea from Harry potter, mirror of erised. –Groans- remind me next time not to write stories with riddles. Anyways I'm gonna focus more on SS relationship from now on. Sorry if the chapter was boring till now. Please bear with me! Now on with rest, hope u like it!)

Sakura staggered back home her arms wrapped tightly around herself to protect her from the beating rain but it wasn't doing much good. She was cold, tired and sleepy. Three things you shouldn't be when you're walking down a dark, lonely lane all by yourself. A freezing wind blew numbing all the tissues in her body.

She shivered and tried to walk faster but it wasn't easy considering the fact that the wind was howling in the opposite direction as though challenging her. To make things worse she slipped and fell into a puddle.

"Great" she grumbled loudly to the sky, "Now I'm wet, cold, tired, sleepy and dirty. Just what I need to make my day better,"

The sky roared mocking her. And lightening flashed forcing her to cover her eyes. Sakura decided to hurry up, even though it wasn't easy but then again a rain storm and thunder weren't exactly her most favorite things in the world.

She suddenly heard a sound, a sound of horse feet. She wondered who could be out in such weather. She shrugged it off and continued walking towards the palace. The rain had washed the dirt of her, fortunately.

"Look someone's there!" she heard a voice and in a flash of lightening she saw a horse and cart come toward her. She shrieked and fell to the ground. There were two men riding it. One of them came up to her and pulled her to her feet by the hand.

"It's a girl," he peered closely at her. Sakura didn't like the fact that he was quite close to her. Too close for comfort. He smelt of tobacco and alcohol.

"Hey she's a pretty one," the other man stood beside him.

"I know. We could make a lot of money if we sell her,"

_What? Sell? _

"Tie her up and throw her inside. Our first catch for today is a great one," said the first man pushing her roughly.

"You're not taking me anywhere!" Sakura screamed gathering a fist of dirt and flinging it the man's eyes. Quickly gathering up her skirts she ran towards the palace tripping and falling with the men gaining on her.

She made it to the palace gates and shot inside before the guards noticed. She hid behind the nearest tree. Fortunately the guard, who was on his rounds came back just in time to see the two men trying to sneak into the palace.

"Hey! You two! Stop right there!" he let a piercing whistle to alert the other guards.

_This is my chance! _Sakura ran to the nearest open window and clambered in. The guards were to busy arresting the crooks that they didn't notice Sakura.

Sakura was glad to see a fire roaring in the fireplace. Without giving a second thought to the fact that she would be caught if someone saw her she collapsed on the carpet in front of the fireplace trying to get warm.

She lay unmoving like a statue for a long time. _At least I'm warm now. _Her clothes were dry. Only her hair was still wet. She heard the clock gong eleven times. _One hour till midnight._

Sakura closed her eyes and sighed softly. Her vision was becoming blurry. She stifled a yawn trying to force her eyes open.

She was so tired to notice the door being open behind her. Her eyes widened as she felt a large shadow loom over her. She quickly sat and spun around in fear.

"Sakura?" the person came closer and to her relief Sakura saw a pair of confused amber eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked surprised as he sat down beside her.

"Syaoran" she whispered. Only then she realized that she was in his room.

"You're soaked. What were you doing in the rain?"

"Syaoran!" Sakura jumped into his arms thankful to see him again.

"Sa..Sakura!" he stuttered falling backwards startled at her action.

"I was so scared!" she sobbed and told him everything that had happened. Syaoran gently wrapped his arms around the frightened girl stroking her damp auburn hair muttering soothingly into her ear.

Her sobs quieted down and she looked up at him pleadingly, "Can I stay here tonight please?"

Syaoran smiled at her, "You don't have to ask," Sakura pulled away from him and stared at his shirt. "Oops! Now you're wet because of me. Sorry."

"Nothing to worry about" He got up and brought a towel. "Dry your hair up or you'll catch a cold," he said placing it on her head.

"Thanks" she replied and proceeded to towel her hair dry, "You can sleep on the bed you know. " he looked straight at the fire but Sakura could see the rid tint lingering on his cheeks.

She shook her head and smiled, "I'm fine here,"

"But…"

"I'll be fine"

He sighed. "You're so stubborn." He brought out a blanket and wrapped it around her and then sat next to her. She leaned on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "It's nice having you by my side," she mumbled sleepy.

Syaoran looked at the girl beside him fast asleep, her breath against his neck. Her cheeks were slightly pale due to the cold. "I'm stubborn too you know," he said removing the towel which was hanging halfway on her head and lifting her up blanket and all.

He gently placed her on the bed and sat down on the easy chair next to the bed. "Good night Sakura," he whispered to her and then picked his half read book from the bedside table.

_I think I'll read for a little while longer_

**Author's note ** Hey guys! Hope you liked that chapter! I'll try my best to update both my stories A.S.A.P! So I've done my duty and it's your turn to do yours and Review!

Author prefers: Long reviews and constructive criticism is allowed

But no flamers please! So hurry and leave a review ne?

Lol

sakura doll


	13. Black Rose

**Author's note: ** Hi ppl! Here's the next chapter you were waiting for. Sorry to say that it's a very short chapter. But before you read I'd like to tell you something.

**IMPORTANT NOTE: ** I made a mistake in chapter 3 where I mentioned his birthday being two months away. Sorry I meant to type it as eight months away. I deeply apologize for this mistake. I'll make sure not to repeat such mistakes again. Sorry once again.

If you don't understand a few things in this chapter, please read it thoroughly…

**Chapter 13**

Syaoran jerked awake. He sat blinking. He glanced at the clock. There were five minutes to four. He sighed remembering that he had to go to train early that morning. He glanced at Sakura who was still asleep on his bed. He smiled seeing the childish look on her face as she slept and then walked into the bathroom to get changed.

He was out in a few minutes wearing his traditional robes. He came out of the bathroom to see Sakura sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"You're awake."

"Syaoran." She mumbled stifling a yawn, "Why are you up so early? Are you going somewhere?"

Syaoran nodded. "That awful teacher of mine wants me to start training early today."

"Do you mind if I stay here a little longer? I'm still sleepy." Sakura yawned again.

The young prince shook his head, "Of course not. You can stay here as long as you like. But I have to get going. My teacher doesn't like it if I'm late." Sakura lay down on the bed again pulling the covers over herself. _There is still sometime before dawn._

"Goodnight my princess" he whispered as he planted a kiss on her cheek.

"It's good morning" Sakura muttered before falling asleep.

Syaoran pushed few strands of auburn hair away from her face before picking his sword and exiting from the room.

Later that morning when Syaoran returned from training, he found his room empty, his bed neatly made. He smirked. _Not that I expected her to be here or anything. _Tiredly he sunk on the bed and closed his eyes to catch some sleep. That easy chair hadn't been very comfortable.

Sakura in the meanwhile was completely elated. Her mother's diary had finally revealed the clue to the last riddle. _My powers must be getting stronger. Come to think of it I didn't feel very tired last night. This is awesome! The last flower…_

She looked inside the diary expecting a very complicated riddle. But…

_A black rose…_

Sakura stared at the book. What? That's it? She grinned to herself. This is too easy now all she had to do was find the last flower and she could free her family from the curse. But she couldn't help but feel an uncomfortable tug in her heart. Something deep inside her told her that it was not going to as easy as it appears to be.

All day long she kept pondering about that feeling. She couldn't remember seeing any black roses in the mystic valley. But she convinced herself saying that it was a magical place and maybe she'd just missed it.

In fact she seemed so spaced out, that she forgot to eat the fruit that Syaoran had given her during lunch. She came around when he started to get worried and hastily started to eat the fruit reminding herself to keep her guard up next time.

_I guess I'm just worrying too much. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find the black rose tonight. _So she forgot about that feeling and raised a spirits up at the thought of being able to see her family soon.

That evening Sakura jumped off her tree house after taking the other three flowers and her mother's diary when

"Sakura!"

She turned around, "Syaoran!" she exclaimed and ran up to him.

"You seem happy today. What's up?" he asked reaching out to pull a leaf from her hair.

She blushed, "Is it obvious?"

"Very."

"Well what's up?" he asked again when she didn't reply.

Sakura debated whether or not to tell him and then decided not to. So she leaned and kissed his cheek, "It's a surprise," she whispered.

He pouted, "but I don't like waiting,"

"Waiting makes it much better," she replied, "Well I have to go now. See you soon, Syaoran."

He waved goodbye and watched her leave feeling glad to see her cheerful.

Sakura hummed a tune as she walked down the usual path to the mystic valley. She reached the end of the cave in no time and pushed open the huge gates with roses carved on them and strode onto the stone path. She settled under her favorite tree at the end of the stone path and decided to check her mother's diary once more just in case and also eat the apple she had bought in the market. But to her disappointment there was nothing else but those three words. Sighing she decided to look for the black rose.

It had become dark and Sakura wearily sat back under the tree. She had looked everywhere but there was no sign of a black rose anywhere. There were all kinds of flowers that Sakura had never even seen before but no black rose. What am I going to do now? She pondered as she paced up and down the stone path when she noticed something.

_Shadow…_she glanced at the gates of the mystic valley. Black rose! The shadow of the gates fell on the stone path. The gate had a rose engraved on it and it's shadow was obviously black.

Sakura's heart began beating faster. Could this be the answer that she had been looking for? The moon suddenly appeared from behind a cloud and the shadow fell on the tree. At that moment the shadows of both the roses fell at the same spot and then much to Sakura's amazement the tree disappeared and in it's place was a small pathway covered with white flowers.

Sakura ran down the short path only to find a field of black roses. She gasped on seeing the beautiful sight. There were lots of bushes covered with black roses waving in wind. Sakura twirled around happily as the petals flew in the air. She found the right flower quickly and picked it and as soon as she had done so the field disappeared and she was standing in front of the tree again.

_Now what?_

Suddenly she heard mother's voice inside her head just like the first time she had found a flower.

_Well done Sakura! You found all the flowers. Now all you have to do is water the four flowers and then summon the hidden power. Once you do that everything will be back to normal._

"Is that all I have to do?" Sakura asked aloud.

_You've found two flowers in two days Sakura and that means you have used too much of your magical energy. Once my voice fades away your magical energy will start draining and that's a slightly painful process._

Sakura gulped nervously and nodded.

_Good luck Sakura! I hope we'll see each other soon!_

Her mother's voice faded. Sakura waited with bated breath. Suddenly a flash of pain shot through her body and the next instant she felt as though an invisible force was tugging at every fiber of her body. Sakura dropped down to her knees and screamed in pain. Wrapping her arms around herself she hoped she could survive the pain. The pain was unbearable. Finally after about five long minutes it ended. Sakura coughed spitting out some blood and finally collapsed on the ground. Her vision was blurry and her breathing was ragged. Every cell of her body was paining and she felt weak. At last she surrendered herself to the darkness and fell asleep.

Syaoran jerked awake. He had a bad dream. _Sakura is in trouble! _ Without thinking he ran out of his room and to the secret garden.

"Sakura!" He called out.

He ran to her tree house and wrenched the door open. The mattress was empty and looked as though it had not been slept in. Panic filled Syaoran. Something was wrong, he knew it.

"Sakura," he yelled again desperately trying to find her. He ran towards the gate of the palace but,

"Your highness! What are you doing here at this time?" The guard at the gates stared at him surprised. It wasn't everyday you see the prince running around wearing his night clothes.

"Let me go" Syaoran growled at the guard. The man looked frightened on hearing his tone and said nervously, "Sorry Your Majesty, I can't do that."

Syaoran glared at the man dangerously and was about to yell at him but he decided against it. He didn't want to cause a commotion.

"Fine I'm going back in." He walked back to the palace gritting his teeth furiously. She was in trouble and he was stuck in the palace.

_I hope you're ok, Sakura_

"Xiao Lang! What are you doing up so late?" a voice which Syaoran didn't not want to hear at all came to his ears.

"Mother…" he glanced at her and continued to walk to his room.

"I asked you a question Syaoran," she said reverting back from his Chinese name.

He looked up at his mother and yelled furiously, "She is in trouble and I can't do anything about it! Just leave me alone mother!" He slammed the door of his room shut and leaned on the door. _Great. Now I'll have to tell his mother everything…_

But to his surprise all he heard was a suppressed chuckle and a rustle of skirts indicating that his mother was leaving.

So it was true. Her son really was in love. Yelan smiled happily to herself as she walked down the aisle. She'd wait. She knew he'd tell her everything and he needed time. And she would wait till he was ready to tell her.

Syaoran sank on his bed thinking about Sakura and how she'd changed him. She had ripped out the mask he had been wearing and melted the ice wall around his heart that he had worked so hard to build. She had showed him who he really was. He was really indebted to her and he didn't know how to repay her.

_I love you Sakura, I will love you always……_

Sakura blinked and woke up. She looked up at the sky to see the sun blazing. It's probably a few hours after noon she mused. She stood up unsteadily and tried to fly. She was still very tired and flying proved to be a difficult task. But somehow she managed to perch herself on the lowest branch of the tree.

She decided to shut her eyes for a few more minutes but before she knew it she was asleep. When she woke up again it was late afternoon. She then realized something. The sun would set soon. She had to hurry and do what her mother told her. Carrying the diary with her claws and the flowers with her beak was extremely hard and it took Sakura more than half an hour to reach the palace.

She hurriedly dropped the diary in a bush in the secret garden and flew towards the palace. She remembered that there was a vase in the hallway near the dining room. She placed the flowers in a vase and as she was looking for water the whole Li family came walking down the aisle much to her dismay. She could hear their voices.

The four sisters were teasing their little brother again who was yelling at them angrily his face as bright red as a tomato. All of them stopped on seeing the flowers in the vase.

_I have no time to hide. _Sakura thought panic-stricken and flew right at Syaoran at tugged the front of his shirt.

Syaoran was surprised to see his pet there but kindly asked her, "What do you want?"

Sakura squawked urgently pointing her wing at a maid who was passing by carrying a bowl of water.

Syaoran nodded understanding and grabbed a tiny plate and filled with some water. He held it out to Sakura. The rest of the Li family looked at the two, bewildered.

Sakura carried the plate in her beak and flew towards the vase. The sun would set very soon and was afraid that she might not make it.

Unfortunately for the plate was too heavy and accidentally she knocked down the vase and dropped the plate. The vase landed on the ground and broke; the plate fell on the ground too spraying a few drops of water on the flowers which had landed in a heap. Sakura stared at the mess she had created, aghast.

To make things worse the sun sank behind the horizon. The entire Li family stared surprised as suddenly the little nightingale began to glow brightly

"What the?…" gasped the King as his four daughters shrieked in surprise.

Syaoran blinked as he tried to see through the bright pink light that had filled the hallway, wondering what on earth was happening to his pet.

They all watched awestruck as the little bird began to transform and soon the light faded away revealing a beautiful young girl. The girl landed down on the floor and burst into tears burying her face in her arms.

"Sakura!" Syaoran stared at her.

Sakura sobbed continually. What was she going to do now?

**Author's note: ** Well it's a cliffy. I hope you like this chapter. This story is coming to an end very soon, only two more chapters. I'll try to finish this story within this week. But don't worry. I'm putting up a new story called "**My savior, my love**" I hope you'll like it. I'm posting it along with this chapter. Plz read it.

And don't forget to leave me a review.

Lol,

sakura doll


	14. Family reunion

**Author's notes: ** Well it's been quite a long while since I updated. Sorry ppl but I was ill for the pst three weeks and was stuck in bed. And I also have a lot of school work to catch up. I'm not very satisfied with this chapter but I hope u guys like it.

On with the story then……….

**Chapter 14:**

"Sakura!" Syaoran stared at her in surprise, his mind whirring with thoughts. Pushing them all away and ignoring the fact that his parents were there, Syaoran rushed up to Sakura and pulled her into his arms. He noticed that her face was pale and there were blotches of blood on her clothes.

Sakura struggled to get out of his grasp, sobbing loudly. Her face was still buried in her hands. But Syaoran's grip was firm and she gave up, burying her face on his chest, still sobbing while clutching a fistful of his shirt with her right hand.

"It's ok." He whispered soothingly in her ear, "Please don't cry, Sakura." I don't care if you're cursed or whatever…… I'll always love you. Please just don't cry," he buried his face in her auburn air.

But the moment he uttered those words. A bright light appeared as Sakura and the four flowers began glowing. Syaoran fell back in surprise and felt something cold fall onto he palm of his hand. But because of blinding light he couldn't see what it was.

"What? This again..?" The king asked who apparently had enough surprises for a day. _First a nightingale transforming into a girl now what……_

To Sakura's joy, she saw four very familiar figures in the hallway when the light had disappeared.

"Mom! Dad!" She shrieked and flung herself on her parents and hugged them tightly.

"Whoa! Whoa… calm down there little monster…" a voice came and Sakura saw Touya's smirking face.

She leapt happily at her brothers, tears of joy pouring down her face. "Great job there sis," Hiroshi smiled ruffling her hair.

"You!" The Li King spluttered, "What are you doing here?" The five Kinomotos looked up as though only then realizing that they were in palace of Li Kingdom.

"I'm sorry for our rude intrusion," Queen Nadeshiko bowed politely. Sakura frightfully glanced at Syaoran but his expression was unreadable. She squeezed her eyes shut, her head bowed. _Oh no! He must hate me now…_

"What's going on here?" Yelan asked looking faintly amused by all the events that had happened in the evening.

King Fujitaka sighed, "Long story…" but he began his tale anyway, "Well it all started when we had won a war against the neighboring kingdom. During the war, a young lad who was the son of a witch named Yuko was killed. Yuko was enraged by the death of her son and she cursed us all to flowers in the mythical valley of the butterflies. All of us, except our youngest daughter Sakura," he motioned Sakura, "who was cursed to become a nightingale by day and human by night." Syaoran let out and almost inaudible gasp at this.

"And thanks to her I'm standing here talking to you," There was a slight pride in his tone.

"Yuko was a nice person, really. But the shock of her son's death was too much to bear and I guess that's why she cursed us."

There was long silence till King Ryu suddenly stormed off to his room. Touya made a growling noise from the bottom of his throat but Hiroshi grabbed his sleeve warningly.

Yelan quickly bowed looking embarrassed, "Please excuse his rudeness. You are welcome to spend the night here,"

Touya opened his mouth to protest but Hiroshi and Sakura stepped on his foot at the same time and what he was about to say turned to a painful groan.

"That's very kind of you," King Fujitaka smiled gratefully.

"Maya! Escort our guests to their rooms please." Yelan ordered a maid who was passing by.

"Yes Your Majesty. This way, sir"

Everyone left the room with the Li sisters giggling and throwing glances at Sakura and Syaoran who were standing alone in the hallway now.

There was an uncomfortable silence. Syaoran opened his fist and stared. There was the heart shaped locket that Sakura had won in the fair except that…

_It was whole…_

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked timidly.

"Look…" Syaoran held out the locket for her to see.

Sakura gasped. "But how did that….? Does this mean…?"

,_ "The other part of the pendant will be found only if you find a person who will love you as much as you love him,"_

The words of the old lady from the fair flooded into her mind making her blush scarlet immediately. She looked up to see a faint redness on Syaoran's cheek too. But before any of them could speak,

"Am I interrupting something?"

Sakura and Syaoran whipped their heads in the direction of the voice.

"Mother?" Sakura looked surprised.

Nadeshiko smiled at her daughter and looked at Syaoran, "I see you found the other half of the pendant, Prince Syaoran."

"I…uh…" Syaoran started but was interrupted by Sakura,

"How was the curse broken? I thought I failed." Sakura said, "You said I had to summon my hidden power or something and I never did that…"

Her mother laughed, "You really should listen properly Sakura. I never mentioned that it was your hidden power."

Sakura gawked at her mother, "You mean…?" Both of them looked at Syaoran who had a confused look on his face.

"It was Syaoran who broke the spell,"

"What? Me? But I didn't do anything…"

"It was your love for my daughter that saved the day actually." Nadeshiko said and laughed on seeing Sakura and Syaoran's face turn bright red.

"That pendant has a lot of magical powers. When you truly accept the fact that you love the person who owns the necklace and are ready to do whatever it takes to help them, you will obtain the other half of the pendant and it will become whole again. Here, when you declared your feelings for Sakura despite the fact that she was cursed, you proved yourself worthy of getting the other half of the pendant as well as my daughter's heart and love." Nadeshiko explained.

Syaoran blushed harder. Nadeshiko smiled, "I guess that answers your question, Sakura. I'll leave you two alone now," She turned on her heels and walked away leaving the two alone. Nobody spoke for a moment.

"I'm sorry," Sakura blurted.

"For what?" Syaoran asked puzzled.

"I didn't tell you that I was the princess of the Kinomoto Kingdom," Syaoran laughed.

"I told you that I didn't care, remember?" he frowned then.

"What happened?" he asked looking at the blood on her clothes.

"Come to the garden and I'll tell you everything." Sakura said. The two went to the palace garden (A/N: not the secret garden…)

"And that's what happened," Sakura finished, waving her hands dramatically.

Syaoran let out a low whistle, "So that means all this time you were my pet?"

Sakura nodded, slightly embarrassed, "Thanks Syaoran…for everything." She looked at him gratefully.

Syaoran shook his head, "No. I should be thanking you. You're the best thing that ever happened to me." He lay down on the grass not noticing the pile of dried leaves. "oof!" he ground shaking his head scattering the leaves on his messy hair. Sakura laughed and pulled him up by the arm.

"Look, now your hair is full of leaves." She leaned over and began pulling out the leaves from his chestnut locks.

_His hair is so soft…_

Sakura blushed at that thought but continued pulling out leaves from his hair.

"Done!" she announced and sat down but Syaoran pulled her onto him again and the two of them rolled into the pond.

"SYAORAN!!" Sakura yelled, "Look at what you've done!!" She indicated her wet hair sticking to her face and her drenched clothes.

"Did I do something wrong?" Syaoran asked in a feigned innocent voice. He was also completely soaked, with water dripping from his bangs onto his face.

Sakura strode up to him, wading in the waist deep water, furiously and dunked him in the water. But Syaoran who had been expecting this pulled her into the water too. Sakura sunk in with a yelp of surprise and finally broke free from his firm grasp and surfaced gasping hard.

Syaoran laughed as she glared at him.

"What's so funny?" she demanded glaring even more fiercely.

"You look so cute when you're angry," He pulled her into arms and kissed her.

Sakura forgot about her anger and blushed bright red which made Syaoran laugh again.

Syaoran dragged her out of the water, "We'd better get changed or else we both will catch a cold."

She nodded and walked into the palace to meet her mother wondering if she could ask the Queen whether she could borrow a change of clothes.

Syaoran stared at her till she disappeared around the corner and smiling to himself he walked towards his room not noticing a pair of eyes that had been watching them all along.

Sakura sighed leaning against the balcony railing while drying her hair with a towel. She was feeling much better, now that she was wearing dry clothes and had just taken a nice, warm bath. The garden looked beautiful shimmering in the silver moon light.

"It's beautiful isn't it?"

Sakura didn't have to turn around to know who it was. "Yeah," she murmured in response letting her chin rest on her palms.

"It almost makes you want to write a poem."

Sakura laughed slightly, "Since when did you become a poet?" she asked mockingly turning to face Hiroshi.

"Hey! Don't insult me!"

Sakura sighed again and turned her back to him. There was a few moments silence before he spoke again,

"Is something wrong, Sakura?" He had a hunch what it might be but he wanted to make sure.

"Maybe…" she replied vaguely, her voice half a whisper.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he stood next her and studied gazed at her intently with his blue eyes.

Sakura shook her head but Hiroshi didn't know whether she meant a yes or a no. "Are you thinking about him?" he asked softly.

Sakura face turned red for a nanosecond and then it was replaced by a sad look again. Hiroshi smiled,

"I'll take that as a yes."

"What is going to happen now Hiro?" she asked, her voice quavering slightly, "will I…will I ever see him again?" the last part of the sentence was spoken so softly that Hiroshi had to strain his ears to hear her.

"To be honest I don't know…" Hiroshi said but immediately regretted it as she became upset again.

"Just forget about him," Touya's gruff voice came in as he entered the room. "We're leaving home tomorrow evening anyway. Besides that King's reaction was absolutely insulting. I knew it all along. All the Lis are just the same…rude and…."

"Touya," Hiroshi's warning struck through the air and he glanced towards Sakura, who had tears brimming in her eyes.

Touya took one glance at his little sister and left the balcony mumbling a small apology. He felt really bad for making her cry.

"You could have found all the flowers earlier then you had if you wanted to but you didn't because of him right?"

Sakura stared at the ground, "I'm sorry,"

"You don't have to apologize," Hiroshi said placing a hand on her shoulder. "That really proves how much you love him. I'm happy for you Sakura. I'm glad you found the right person for you. And if he loves you just as much then I'm sure everything will be fine. Just have faith in yourself and in him ok?"

Sakura nodded, her spirits slightly lifted. She gave him a small smile. He gently patted her head and left inside the room.

Sakura wondered why he left all of a sudden but turning behind she knew the answer. Because, there stood Syaoran, looking up at her from the garden, below.

"Syaoran!" she called out happy to see him, "What are you doing out here?"

"I came to say goodnight, my princess," he replied smirking as a red blush appeared on her cheeks.

Sakura stared at him, suddenly feeling sad all over again. Tears slowly formed in her eyes and slowly started falling down her cheeks. She sniffed back a sob.

"Sakura, are you crying?" he asked.

Sakura didn't reply and continued staring at him as tears kept falling. At that moment she suddenly wanted him near her and to feel his arms around her.

As though reading her thoughts Syaoran ran over to nearby tree and climbed up in a flash. He jumped onto the balcony from a nearby branch. Sakura stared at him surprised and amazed for a second before she flung herself of him sobbing uncontrollably.

He stroked her auburn her with one hand while the other was holding her tightly to him. He was at loss of what to say because he knew how she felt. Finally Sakura withdrew and he whispered into her ear, "Please don't be sad, Saku. Everything will be ok I'm sure," he wished he felt as confident as he sounded.

He placed a light kiss on her cheek and jumped down the balcony but not before pressing a handkerchief onto the palms of her hand.

Sakura stared gratefully at his retreating back and then wiped her tears with the kerchief before going back to bed to try and get some sleep.

Unknown to the two the Li sisters and the queen were plotting something as they had all seen the little scenario between the two. The Li sisters were absolutely delighted that their mother was a part of their matchmaking scheme.

"Stop giggling!" the queen ordered her daughters sharply. "There's nothing funny going on,"

"No, it's just that I never thought _you_'d be plotting here with us, mother," Fanran said suppressing another giggle as her mother glared at her.

"I just want my son to be happy," Yelan replied in a dignified tone. "And if he feels that he can find happiness in her then I'm not stopping him," she sighed softly before continuing, "I just want to him to make his own decision for once,"

Sheifa placed a hand on her mother's shoulder, "Don't worry. Things will be fine and we're here to make sure of it,"

"I don't think convincing her parents will be that hard," Feimei piped up looking serious.

Fuutie nodded at her sister and then turned to face her mother, "It's just father I'm worried about,"

"Just leave your father to me. I'll persuade him. I just hope we can convince the elders. You know how they are…" the queen trailed off.

"Just persuade father into agreeing, mother. I'm sure he can take care of those elders. She maybe a Kinomoto but she is of royal heritage. Isn't that enough?" Sheifa looked at mother.

"I hope it will be," their mother replied before sweeping out of the room. The door shut with a slight bang and the fours girls looked at one another.

Things were getting complicated. They hoped every thing will turn out well.

The next evening arrived and it was almost time for the Kinomotos to leave. There was a thick tension in the air as they bid their farewell.

Sakura's gaze was fixed to the floor, her face hidden by her bangs. Syaoran kept glancing at her but was unable to meet her eyes.

Feimei gave her mother a quick glance and the queen nodded. She cleared her throat,

"Excuse me Your Highness," she looked at Fujitaka, "Can I ask you something?"

All eyes were on her. Syaoran stared at his mother wondering what it could be. But her expression was unreadable.

**Author's note: **Well that was chapter 14! There's just one more chapter left. The next update is scheduled on my birthday which is in two weeks. (sigh) I'm going to miss this story. Anyways don't forget to leave me a review! Bye!

This is sakura doll sighing off.


	15. My happiness

**Author's note : **Well! Here's the final long awaited chapter of From sunrise to sunset. Sorry for the really but I wanted make this chapter really good and I worked so hard and I hope you'll enjoy it.

Thanks to all those who reviewed for this story. I'm too lazy to type your names but you know who you are (lol). Thanks again, I'd never have gone this far without you guys.

Special thanks to Tamoumathestarwarrior: Your review for my other story (My savior, my love) was very encouraging. It was my first time typing "the boring stuff". I'm glad you enjoyed it.

On with the chapter…………………

**Chapter 15**

_From last chapter…_

"_Excuse me Your Highness," she looked at Fujitaka, "Can I ask you something?"_

_All eyes were on her. Syaoran stared at his mother wondering what it could be. But her expression was unreadable._

The Kinomoto King gave a short nod indicating her to continue. The queen hesitated for a moment before replying, "I would like to ask your daughter's hand in marriage to my son,"

Everyone gawked at her except the four sisters who looked at their mother as though she was talking about the weather. Syaoran knew they were in on this. He gave them a suspicious glance (which they pretended to ignore) and turned to look at Sakura.

Sakura's gaze was fixed to the ground, her cheeks glowing red (which Syaoran couldn't see of course) but Hiroshi could almost feel the heat radiating from her.

The queen looked a little nervous. She had spent all might and half of the morning trying to convince him that it was for the happiness of their son, but she had not received a proper reply. But her daughters had firmly told her that they were proceeding to part B of the plan, namely asking Fujitaka whether or not the king says yes or no. Her daughter's voice flooded into her ears,

"If you convince him properly, then even if he doesn't give a proper answer, he will surely have to accept when you ask the Kinomoto king. I don't think father is that harsh,"

She just hoped that she had convinced him properly enough

The long billowing silence seemed to stretch for hours and finally Fujitaka and his wife exchanged glances before replying, "Well, that's for our daughter to decide,"

All eyes were on her as she stood rooted to the spot refusing to look up at Syaoran and meet his penetrating gaze. Hiro realizing that his sister had starting problem decided to help her. He placed his hand on her back and pushed her gently toward Syaoran, "Go" he whispered.

Sakura looked at her brother gratefully. That was all the boost that she needed. And like an arrow from a bow she shot toward Syaoran and threw herself on him.

"I love you, I love you, I love you so much……" she whispered in his ear, burying her head at the crook of his neck. He chuckled slightly wrapping his arms tightly around her, "I love you too,"

"Kawaiiii!!!!!!!!" four high pitched shrieks deafened everyone's ears and the four brunette sisters clapped their hands in victory. Someone loudly cleared their throat. At once silence conquered the room. And the occupants of the room turned to face King Ryu Li.

He walked toward Sakura and Syaoran who at once stood in front Sakura as though his father might kill her. But his father simply pushed him and went to Sakura who looked determinedly back at him.

This time the silence stretched longer than before. _Maybe we rejoiced too soon…_ Syaoran at once started planning the melodramatic speech he would tell his father if he tried to interfere. He would tell him that he'd rather be disowned that marry some slutty princess and…..

"Welcome to the family Princess Sakura," Syaoran's train of thoughts were interrupted and he nearly fell over. He grabbed his mother for support and saw that he wasn't the only one so surprised. Everyone else's reaction was nearly the same as his.

_Wow, today was full of surprises…_

Something was wrong with his mother and father. Maybe he should enquire with the chef if added any special kind of poison to their food last night. Then maybe he could add it everyday….

"Now wait just a min…." Touya began but Hiroshi _accidentally _put his foot down (hard) on Touya's toe and shook his head at him. Touya nodded grumpily but still felt happy for his little sister. If that brat tried to do anything to her, he'd show _a little _brotherly concern by shredding him to pieces.

"Well, what are you standing there gaping for? I am not as hard hearted as you think I am, you know" the King told Yelan, "We have a wedding to plan," With that he strode off to the throne room ordering a nearby servant to bring some paper and a quill and went off muttering to himself. You could only catch a few words like "cancel engagement" and "inform elders".

The queen straightened up and looked at the Kinomotos. "I guess your departure is postponed for now."

Nadeshiko smiled, "I guess, but we still have to get back as soon as possible,"

The queen waved her delicate hand and replied smoothly, "that can be easily arranged," and she led the Kinomoto family (except Sakura) to the throne room.

Much to Syaoran's relief his four chattering sisters left with his mother. "So much for that speech…" he said out loud and sighed.

"What speech?" Sakura asked puzzled.

Syaoran smiled at her, his rarest one, yet, "Nothing, never mind," he squeezed her hand, "I told you it was going to be ok,"

The day passed quickly and it was time for the Kinomoto family to return to their kingdom. Except Sakura, of course, (much to her relief) who was going to stay with her husband to be.

"Take care Sakura," her mother hugged her.

"Syaoran said that I could come and visit you before the wedding," Sakura said happily.

"But you'll have to visit us at the end of the month," her mother's eyes glinted. Sakura looked puzzled, "What for?"

Nadeshiko and Fujitaka looked at their sons who for some reason were looking in opposite directions and were blushing.

"Are you guys hiding something?" Sakura asked her parents.

"Your brothers are getting married Sakura," her father said smiling.

"WHAT? To whom?"

"To Princess Ran and Princess Kaho of the Mizuki kingdom. They came for your fifteenth birthday party, remember?"

"Yeah. I remember them, but how come you never told me?" Sakura asked indignantly.

"We wanted to tell it on your birthday but…." Nadeshiko trailed off sadly. Sakura nodded understanding. It was on her birthday all _this _had started.

Sakura turned to her brothers, her hands on her hips, "Well, well now I know why you guys resemble human tomatoes. Look at your faces! You're blushing like girls!" she said giggling.

"Hey!" Touya yelled, blushing harder (if possible).

"Syaoran shut your fiancée up!" Hiroshi told the Li prince.

Syaoran jumped on hearing his name and a sly smirk appeared on his lips, "Sure thing,"

He pulled a startled Sakura into his arms and kissed her. At once his sisters squealed in joy.

"You're so romantic, little brother!!"

Now it was Sakura's turn to blush, "Now look who's the tomato!" Hiro said triumphantly. Sakura buried her face on Syaoran's shoulder, embarrassed which made her brother laugh harder. Touya on the other hand looked disgruntled but didn't say anything.

"Embarrased are we?" Syaoran whispered in her ear.

Sakura pouted, "You're supposed to be on my side,"

Syaoran laughed, "I'm always on your side Sakura, but I couldn't resist. You look so cute when you blush."

"Shut up," his fiancée replied, the back of her neck slowly turning red as well. Everyone laughed which made Sakura mumble something incoherent burying herself deeper into Syaoran's chest.

"Well, we'd better get going," Fujitaka said ruffling his daughter's hair before stepping into the carriage waiting patiently for them. His wife and sons followed suit. The carriage finally drove of as the Kinomoto family waved their final good byes.

Sakura stared at the horse carriage as it became smaller and smaller and finally vanished into the horizon.

She felt an arm wrap around her and she gratefully rested her head on his broad shoulder.

"Looks like we're in for a glorious sunset,"

"Yeah" she said softly and they were drowned by the pinkish orange glow as the sun solemnly sank behind the horizon.

* * *

"I just got a letter from my father." Sakura said cheerfully kicking her legs in the water.

"Oh?" Syaoran looked at her, "What did he say?"

"He says that the capital is almost rebuilt and that they are progressing fast. I feel so happy! I can hardly wait to go back," Her eyes twinkled with joy.

Syaoran felt his heart getting warm seeing her so happy. Two weeks had already passed after her family had left. And they were going to attend her brothers' wedding the next week.

Everyone in Syaoran's family and in the castle loved his bubbly and kind hearted fiancé. He felt that the entire atmosphere in the palace was cheerful and even his father smiled once in a while which was surprising because Syaoran had always thought that his father had forgotten how to smile. Especially since the last time he smiled was when Syaoran was born (or so his mother always said)

Syaoran had finally decided to ask his mother about the secret garden, but his mother didn't seem surprised. She had smiled knowingly and had said,

"Only people who are searching for their soul mates and people who are in love can see the garden,"

Syaoran had blushed and stammered, "I wasn't looking for my soul mate,"

"Maybe. But subconsciously you really wanted to find you soul mate," And she had walked off before he could even think of a reply.

The two of them were now in the mystic valley. Syaoran was sitting on the grass near the pond and Sakura a little further away on a rock, her legs knee deep in the water.

Syaoran felt something cold hit his face,

"Are you listening to me?" Sakura questioned.

Wiping his wet face on his sleeve, he shook his head. Sakura crossed her hands in front of her chest and huffed, annoyed.

He kept looking at her for a while knowing that Sakura didn't feel comfortable at being stared at. He watched her face slowly turn pink and knew that he'd won.

"Ok, Ok I'll tell you. Stop staring," she replied hastily.

Syaoran smirked, "I knew you couldn't resist my charms," Sakura rolled her eyes before continuing, "I also got a letter from Tomoyo. She says that she's definitely coming for the wedding and that I ought to let her make my wedding dress. She also told me that she's expecting a baby in six months. Isn't that great?"

Syaoran nodded feeling genuinely happy for Eriol.

"Eriol also sends his wishes to his cute little princey friend," Sakura added seeing Syaoran wince visibly at the sound of Eriol's nickname for him. He made a mental note to kick Eriol's butt when he would come for the wedding.

* * *

Syaoran stared at the sky, reminiscing the events of the past few months, how it had changed his life.

"The sky is beautiful," he said staring at the velvety black sky filled with shining stars and the gorgeous full moon.

"Yeah" Sakura's voice was whisper near his ear and he felt her wrap her arms around his neck from behind and place her cheek against his.

"But not as beautiful as you," he whispered making her blush again.

"Look!" she said not very loudly but to him it was slightly deafening seeing how close she was to his ear. He looked at the direction she was pointing to and saw a shooting star making its way through the dark night sky.

"Make a wish, quick," she said closing her eyes and joining her hands making hers.

Forcing himself not to laugh at her childishness he too closed his eyes and made a wish.

Both of them knew what wish the other had made.

A wish to stay together with each other forever

* * *

And that my friends, is the end of our fairytale. A tale about a cursed princess, a lonely prince, their happiness, their sorrow, and their love.

_It all started with a curse. A curse, from sunrise to sunset. _

**Author's note:** Ta! Da! And that's end ppl. I hope you liked it. I'm really gonna miss typing this story. I apologize if you guys were expecting wedding scenes and all that but I thought that this was a better ending. Becoz wedding scenes are common in most fanfics. Don't forget to leave a review and tell me if you liked it.

And I'm not sure about the sequel thing. I wasn't planning on one but I'll think about it.

And I'd also like you guys to know that my updates will be a little slow from now on since I have an important exam on march and I really have to start preparing, but don't worry I'll still keep updating my stories.

This is sakura doll signing off.


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